A rather enjoyable adaptation... (Spoilers)
I was actually surprised at how closely the film followed the novel. I expected it to be King Solomon's Mines in name and concept only. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised at how closely the film followed the novel. There were a few alterations, of course.
Most of the characters were as depicted in the novel. Captain Good, here re-envisioned as a Naval Commander, remained the slightly older gentleman who was out of his element. Sir. Henry Curtis was once more the hero of the story. Umbopa retained his charm and wit. Twala was as abusive as ever. And Gagool was outright unnerving in her similarity. Seeing her introduction, it felt as if the 300 year old witch had literally crawled out of the novel itself. Even the plight of Jose Sylvestera was faithfully depicted. The only character who seemed to deviate from his or her role in the novel was Allan Quatermaine himself, who was decidedly more rude and apathetic in the film than in the novel. I found it an annoying deviation, but it rather mild when compared with how accurately the rest of the characters were depicted.
Of course, there were some changes made to the cast of characters. The film gave us Patrick O'Brien to set the events in motion, a stand-in for Henry's brother in the novel, and his lovely daughter Kathy O'Brien to provide us with a feminine representation and a pretty face. Whereas the novel informs us in the first chapter that the story is without a "petticoat," a film without a woman is something that cannot be. And speaking of women, it is no surprise that the character of Foulata was left out. While she was a nice addition to the novel, I did not expect that a film from the 1930s should portray an interracial relationship such as the one she had with Captain Good. The two native guides are also missing from the film, but they existed in the novel seemingly only to act as fodder for the dangers of Africa as their characters were quite short-lived.
As for the story itself, the film acted as something of a summary for the novel. They crossed desert and mountain in search of King Solomon's Mines, found a lost tribe, and restored a rightful king to his thrown. Scene after scene was lifted directly from the novel. The conflict between Sir. Henry and King Twala was fairly faithful as well. The two fights from the novel were essentially rolled into one with Twala's axe hacking away at Henry's shield and then the two engaging in hand to hand combat ending with the beheading of King Twala. Perhaps the most impressive part of the adaptation was the way in which they turned the mines into the cavern of a volcano. In the novel, the threat of being buried alive within the mountain and starving to death created a great sense of panic and suspense. In a film, however, one cannot watch three men wait for death and be entertained. To transfer the threat from starvation to death by flame and lava was a fantastic decision on the part of the filmmakers.
It was also nice to see Paul Robeson get top billing in this one. My only real regret is that the filmmakers did not have a larger budget to work with.