The King of Kings (1927)

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writer:

Jeanie Macpherson (story)

Release Date:

1928 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

Most reverent and strikingly beautiful panorama of the tragedy of all ages--the world's greatest screen epic. A production acclaimed by world-famed scholars, press and public in this country and abroad, as the most ambitious presentation of the final years of the life of Jesus ever pictured on the screen. An epochal motion picture that will live forever in the hearts of mankind.

Plot:

Mary Magdalene becomes angry when Judas, now a follower of Jesus, won't come to her feast. She goes to see Jesus and becomes repentant...

Plot Keywords:

Resurrection | Crucifixion | Temple | Adultery | Two Strip Technicolor

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Dec. 21

12:00 AM

TCM

Cast

H.B. Warner	...	Jesus, the Christ
Dorothy Cumming	...	Mary, the mother
Ernest Torrence	...	Peter
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Judas Iscariot
James Neill	...	James, brother of John
Joseph Striker	...	John, the beloved
Robert Edeson	...	Matthew, the publican
Sidney D'Albrook	...	Thomas, the doubter
David Imboden	...	Andrew, a fisherman
Charles Belcher	...	Philip
Clayton Packard	...	Bartholomew
Robert Ellsworth	...	Simon, the zealot
Charles Requa	...	James The Lesser
John T. Prince	...	Thaddeus
Jacqueline Logan	...	Mary Magdalene

Runtime:

USA:112 min (alternate version) | USA:155 min (premiere version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System) (1931 reissue) | Silent | Silent (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

DeMille Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

This was the first film shown at Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the blind girl gets pulled through the window, she is wearing modern underwear.

Quotes:

Mary Magdalene: Harness my zebras - gift of the Nubian King! This Carpenter shall learn that he cannot hold a man from Mary Magdalene!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Passion: Films, Faith & Fury (2006) (TV)

THE CRITERION DVD IS A MARVELOUS!

I first experienced Cecil B. DeMille's beautiful telling of the Life of Christ, his 1927 THE KING OF KINGS, in a local theatre in the late 1950s. It impressed me then as a teenager and it impresses me even more now, having just experienced a special viewing of the double disc DVD that is being released on December 7, 2004 under The Criterion Collection label.

I purchased a 16mm print of this film many years ago as well as buying the Criterion Laser Dics release a few years back, so I am well versed in this classic. Until now, everything shown theatrically, on 16mm, VHS tape and Laser Discs has been of the re-edited version that DeMille prepared in 1928, a year after the film played its roadshow engagements. Millions of people the world over have seen the shorter 112 minute cut, which is included on the Criterion disc with both the original Hugo Riesenfeld score (and sound effects) as issued in 1928, and an outstanding newly recorded pipe organ score by Timothy J. Tikker, done especially for this release.

For years I have been aware that the roadshow version as shown at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in LA and at the Gaiety in NY, ran 155 minutes, some 37 minutes longer then I had ever seen it. From James D'Arc at the Brigham Young University Archives (which houses the DeMille collection) I learned that the full length version still existed and was in the possession of the DeMille family. That complete version is now the highlight of the Criterion DVD release and it is MARVELOUS!

I've always thought highly of DeMille's THE KING OF KINGS -- but now seeing it in this wonderfully preserved full-length print, complete with an outstanding original orchestra score by Donald Sosin, I can say without hesitation that it is a more spiritually uplifting experience in this version then it ever was in the fine shorter cut. This is a MASTERPIECE, not only of the silent cinema, but of all-time!

And that's not all -- the EXTRA's included on the two DVD's are also a marvel. There is almost 15 minutes of priceless behind-the-scenes footage on the set of the film. You'll see DeMille directing a huge cast and at times view three cameras being hand-cranked. There are shots of D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks visiting with DeMille on set. There are production and costume sketches by renowned artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck as well as a stills gallery of rare production and publicity photos. The original illustrated theatre program and press book are pictured also -- and there's more. In short this is the finest DVD ever released on a film from the silent era, even surpassing Fox's marvelous job on F.W. Murnau's SUNRISE (also a 1927 release).

In my opinion, DeMille's THE KING OF KINGS in this full version is the finest rendering of the Life of Christ ever put on film! Criterion, known as the leader of fine DVD's, has done it again. Don't hesitate on picking up a copy of this if you love great movies and want a spiritual experience!