The King of Kings (1927)

You won't be disappointed!

Sadly Over-hyped

Absolutely Fantastic

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Extraordinary Example of Entertainment and Spectacle, Reverence and Retelling, this is One of the Best Silents and is a Testament to the Power of Film. Hypnotic, it Casts a Christian Spell on the Audience and No Matter What One's Belief, it Impresses with its Imagery and Message that Christ is the Light.The Film Manages to be Restrained and at the Same Time Awe the Viewer with its Powerfully Photographed Scenes of Miracles by the Messiah. It Shows the Christ Almost as Documentary. One gets the Feeling that it was Filmed in 33 A.D.The Movie Foregoes the Birth and the "Lost Years" and Enters the Life of Jesus During His Last Days. It has Been Said that H.B. Warner was too Old for the Part. But if One Contemplates that this is the End for the Superstar, it Could be Considered that the "weight of the world" was on the Shoulders of the Saviour and Being the "Son of Man", it was Beginning to Take its Toll.The Success, both Financially and Artistically of this Silent Film Cannot be Overstated. It Remains a Visual and Spiritual Piece of Work. The Surviving Prints are a Miracle by Themselves. Everything Remains. Pristine Celluloid that Seems Blessed. It Looks and Sounds as Good Today as the Day it was Released. The Bookending Color Sequences and Musical Accompaniment are Here in all their Glory, as is the Complete Film Showcasing a Bathed in Light Jesus in Many Soulful Scenes.Overall, as Religion Envisioned by Hollywood it Doesn't Get Any Better than This. Highly Recommended for Anyone of Any Faith and Atheist too. It's that Good.

. . . directly ordered from producer\director Cecille B. DeMille by God Himself, according to one of the first Intertitles of KING OF KINGS. Therefore, it's obviously sacrilegious to rate this movie below a perfect score of "10." It would be nice if ALL of the world's religions could lend themselves to film adaptations, since some have hundreds of such flicks in circulation. Others behead film makers, which is the ultimate outrage against practitioners of Film AS Religion. One of several fallacious charges made against this 1927 silent, KING OF KINGS, is that it helped inspire the Nazis to "sell" the Holocaust as a revenge killing. However, Caiaphus, the High Priest of Israel, says on an Intertitle card after the rending of the veil over the Holy of Holies, "I ALONE am guilty" for Jesus' execution. Even if Hitler did not grasp that this confessed crucifixion mastermind was long dead and buried by 1927, other Germans were around to fill him in and point out that under this blame-the-Jews logic, he also should be attacking Pontius Pilate's Italian descendant Mussolini, instead of being so Palsy Walsy with him. Controversy aside, is this a MORE authoritative religious film than THE LIFE OF BRIAN or APOCALYPTO? Don't forget they're putting on the Council of Massachusetts on the Boston Commons Feb. 29 to set the canon for the Church of Filmogy. Buffers can be part of it, or be apocrypha.

For a silent religious film this is quite good. H.B. Warner plays Jesus. He looks about twenty years too old for the part (didn't Jesus die when he was 33?) and spends too much of his time looking pious while holding his hands out the way Jesus does in the drawings. His beard looks false, and you can almost imagine the make-up guy standing just off camera sweating over whether a corner is about to detach itself from Warner's face.The film doesn't follow Jesus's early life. He's already causing quite a stir in the Holy Land by the time we catch up with him, and almost half of the film takes place after Judas has betrayed him, probably because Hollywood felt it needed to add some kind of suspense to the story to sell it to the great unwashed. For a DeMille film the excesses are mostly reined in apart from a couple of huge sets. There's a lot of dialogue, and most of it is comprised of sound-bites from the Bible that are still instantly recognisable. You know the sort of thing: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Maybe this was also an attempt to keep the masses involved because I remember thinking as I watched that it was strange that all the catchy lines appear in the second half of the Bible. Perhaps there was some judicious shifting around of the good book's catchiest phrases. Not being a religious man, I wouldn't know.While the pace is fairly slow by today's standards, the last reel, which follows the resurrection of Christ, still retains some of its power and must have been really impressive in its day. There's even a couple of colour scenes to emphasise the miracle we are witnessing.

The silent factor doesn't hurt THE KING OF KINGS. As seen on TCM with an appropriate background score and all of the two-strip Technicolor scenes intact, it's stunning visually and impressive from beginning to end. Of course, some of the acting belongs strictly to the silent period but overall the performances are right on target.H.B. WARNER is touching as Jesus, but Joseph SCHILDKRAUT is the standout in the cast, portraying Judas with great skill and conviction. ERNEST TORRENCE as Peter is effective too. DOROTHY CUMMING as Mary does a sympathetic job and VICTOR VARCONI makes an impressive Pontious Pilate. JACQUELINE LOGAN makes a vivid impression as Mary Magdelene. Child actor MICHAEL D. MOORE is excellent as Mark.The sets and costumes are opulent, as one expects in a De Mille epic, and the story is told at an even pace that belies the fact that it's extremely lengthy for a silent film of this period. TCM showed the full version.While the director took liberties with Biblical text to create a vivid cinematic work, it faithfully follows all of the main threads of the greatest story ever told. The film is enhanced by the silent factor since it does allow the viewer to use his imagination when it comes to the voice of Jesus.Summing up: Must rank among the great silent films--well worth viewing.Trivia note: Interesting to spot WILLIAM BOYD (Hopalong Cassidy) as Simon of Cyrene who helps Jesus carry the cross. He's very effective.