Editing King Vidor (section)

===''Solomon and Sheba'' (1959)===

''Solomon and Sheba'' is one of a cycle of bible-based epics popular favored by Hollywood during the 1950s. The film is best remembered as the Vidor's last commercial production of his long career in Hollywood.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988: p. 310-311<br />Steinberg, TMC: "One of the many Hollywood biblical epics that enjoyed a vogue in the '50s, Solomon And Sheba (1959) is best remembered as the final project in the long and distinguished career of director King Vidor."</ref>

A tragic footnote is attached to this picture. Six weeks into production the leading man, 45-year-old star [[Tyrone Power]], suffered a heart attack during a climactic sword fight scene. He died within the hour. Considered the "ultimate nightmare" for any major movie production, the entire film had to be re-shot, with the lead role of Solomon now recast with [[Yul Brynner]].<ref>Steinberg, TMC: "This expensively mounted Bible saga, however, is also marked with the unfortunate distinction of having a major leading man become a production casualty."</ref>
The death of Tyrone Powers was less a financial disaster and more a creative loss. Vidor was bereft of an actor who had grasped the complex nature of the Solomon figure, adding depth to Powers' performance. Brynner and Vidor were instantly at loggerheads when the leading man substituted a portrayal of an "anguished monarch" for an Israelite king who would "dominate each situation without conflict." Vidor reported, "it was an attitude that affected the depth of his performance and probably the integrity of the film."<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988: p. 301: "...ultimate nightmare…" And Vidor's "fondness" for the Powers film footage and Vidor's "rare public dislike for  [a cast member] Brynner." And "Vidor's complaints about Brynner's refusal to display vulnerability are borne out on film."<br />Steinberg, TMC: "The project's salvaging was not remembered fondly by either the director or his substitute lead. Vidor felt that Brynner's reading lacked the threads of self-doubt that Power brought to the role. "Tyrone Power had understood the dualistic problem of the anguished king," the director recounted in Raymond Durgnat and Scott Simmon's King Vidor, American. Brynner, he continued, 'fought the idea of a troubled monarch and wanted to dominate each situation without conflict. It was an attitude that affected...the integrity of the film.'"<br />Baxter, 1976 p. 85: Baxter reports the same disparity between Power's and Brynner's understanding of the Solomon character as Vidor wished it to be performed."</ref>
Leading lady [[Gina Lollobrigida]] adopted Brynner's approach to her character development of her Queen of Sheba, adding another facet of discord with the director.<ref>Baxter, 1976 p. 85<br />Berlinale 2020, 2020:  "It was important to Vidor that Tyrone Power could play that conflict, because it echoed [Vidor's] experience in life."</ref>

''Solomon and Sheba'' includes some impressive action sequences, including a widely cited battle finale in which Solomon's tiny army faces an approaching onslaught of mounted warriors. His troops turn their burnished shields to the sun, the reflected light blinding the enemy hordes and sending them careening into an abyss. Astonishing sequences such as these abound in Vidor's work, prompting film historian [[Andrew Sarris]] to observe "Vidor was a director for anthologies [who] created more great moments and fewer great films than any director of his rank."<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988: p. 314: "In the climax, Solomon's small force dooms the larger army by burnishing their shields until the sun's dazzle lures the charging cavalry into a canyon [over a cliff]. The genre's de rigueur miracle comes down to human ingenuity and effort."<br />Callahan, 2007: "It's striking moments like this in the midst of more prosaic scenes that led [[Andrew Sarris]] to proclaim Vidor 'a director for anthologies [who] created more great moments and fewer great films than any director of his rank.'"</ref>
Despite the setbacks that plagued the production and the ballooning costs associated with the reshoot, Solomon and Sheba "more than earned back its costs."<ref>Steinberg, TMC: "Although critics of the period were indifferent at best to Solomon and Sheba, the film's global grosses still ensured a multi-million dollar profit despite the on-set disaster."<br />Durgnat and Simmon, 1988: p. 317: Solomon and Sheba "more than earned back its costs, which had ballooned from four million to six because of reshooting after Tyrone Powers death…"</ref>

Contrary to claims that ''Solomon and Sheba'' ended Vidor's career, he continued to receive offers to film major productions after its completion. The reasons for the director's disengagement from commercial film-making are related to his age (65) and to his desire to pursue smaller and more personal movie projects. Reflecting on independent productions, Vidor remarked, "I'm glad I got out of it."<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988: p. 315: "Solomon and Sheba has the reputation of being the disaster that killed Vidor's career." And  "...at sixty-five he could hardly help having been wearied by the production chaos of his previous two epics...Vidor was intent on returning to [non-commercial] projects closer to his own spirit."<br />Thomson, 2007: "Vidor stopped directing commercial pictures after Solomon and Sheba. He had other projects – a film about Cervantes and a version of Hawthorne's The Marble Faun – but he admitted he wasn't cut out to be an independent producer. 'I'm glad I got out of it,' he said."</ref>