Everyone says Solomon was wise, yet even someone that intelligent has flaws inherent to being human. Solomon and Sheba comes from director King Vidor and a writing team including Anthony Veiller, Paul Dudley, George Bruce and Crane Wilbur. The movie features Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, Marisa Pavan, George Sanders, David Farrar, Harry Andrews, John Crawford and Laurence Naismith. Mario Nascimbene composed the music and Fred A. Young was in charge of cinematography. The screenplay takes liberties with biblical stories, focusing on the connection between Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba—a complicated situation since she initially has ties to Egypt, a rival of Israel. On top of that, Solomon must also deal with his brother, Adonijah, who is unhappy about Solomon’s claim to the throne. The film is known for the tragic death of actor Tyrone Power during production and how disappointed Vidor became, leading him to stop directing feature films. It's a flawed work, embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of the large-scale historical movies that were popular in Hollywood at the time. Sometimes it’s an overblown melodrama, other times it looks cheap with exaggerated acting (the scenes involving a party are particularly dreadful), while the script seems unsure whether to be a fanciful retelling or something meaningful. The costumes and color photography are visually appealing, but then your eyes get assaulted by set designs that are remarkably poor—even a child making crafts could have done better. The performances vary; Brynner is adequate as Solomon (brooding, intelligent, yet troubled), and Lollobrigida is good too (reserved, clever and attractive). However, the supporting actors don’t always convince. Sanders feels wrong in the role of Solomon's brother Adonijah (he was 53 at the time); his villainous portrayal worked a decade earlier in Samson and Delilah, but not here. The sword fighting is poorly staged, as are the special effects meant to depict miracles. However, the large battle at the end is well-written and executed, and even the use of models can’t diminish its excitement. Being released the same year as "Ben-Hur" certainly didn't help it, and many other big historical films would have had trouble competing too. Vidor’s film sits just above average within the genre, but its shortcomings are frustrating and don't quite make it essential viewing for fans of these types of movies. It gets a 6/10.

Source on TMDB