There is a live lion in the lobby of the Orpheum theatre these days, and if you are under 14, you might easily win a cocker spaniel puppy by naming the beast. He is appearing in connection with M-G-M's African movie "King Solomon's Mines" and presumably remains in the lobby because it would be sheer folly to buck the horde of wild animals who are currently haunting the screen.

As a matter of fact, it's difficult to see how they could have packed any more flora and fauna in one picture. With natives seven feet tall, and stampeding herds of zebra and gnu, the show is bound to be of more than passing interest.

While H. Rider Haggard's story of a woman looking for her husband and his lost diamond mine is not outstanding, the African landscape and its macabre inhabitants have turned a pedestrian adventure plot into a fast moving film. Fortunately, the producers seem to be aware of the plot's shortcomings, and it is safe to say that there are more animals present than words of dialogue.

They play the mysteries of darkest Africa to the hilt. The camera pans over hundreds of blank and weirdly painted native faces; the soundtrack features native drums, beating endlessly; and there are cannibals, shricking animals, and a full complement of snakes, spiders, and other slimy things with legs which crawl. Since the majority of the actors are real natives, their own inscrutability adds to the general air of mystery.

Unfortunately, Deborah Kerr, the heroine, is totally unconvincing. She looks altogether too well washed for one undergoing such hardships, and she spends the first half of the picture being assaulted by the animals of the forest, including the hero, I suppose, and the second half suffering from fatigue and exhaustion. The end result in every case is a sharp cry and a headlong dive into the arms of her bronzed guide.

The big question in "King Solomon's Mines," though, is how they got so many animals to follow a script.