The King of Kings (1927 film)

The King of Kings
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Produced by Cecil B. DeMille
Written by Jeannie Macpherson
Starring H.B. Warner
Dorothy Cumming
Ernest Torrence
Joseph Schildkraut
James Neill
Music by Hugo Riesenfeld
Josiah Zuro
Cinematography J. Peverell Marley
F.J. Westerberg
Edited by Anne Bauchens
Harold McLernon
Distributed by Pathé Exchange
Release dates
  • April 19, 1927 (1927-04-19)
Running time
 155 minutes
Country United States
Language Silent film
English/Aramaic intertitles
Box office $1.5 million[1]

The King of Kings is a 1927 American silent epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It depicts the last weeks of Jesus before his crucifixion and stars H. B. Warner in the lead role.

Featuring the opening and resurrection scenes in two-color Technicolor, the film is the second in DeMille's biblical trilogy, preceded by The Ten Commandments (1923) and followed by The Sign of the Cross (1932).

Plot

We see Mary Magdalene, here portrayed as a wild courtesan, entertain many men around her. Upon learning that Judas is with a carpenter she rides out on her chariot drawn by zebras to get him back. Peter is introduced as the Giant apostle, and we see the future gospel writer Mark as a child who is healed by Jesus. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is shown as a beautiful and saintly woman who is a mother to all her son's followers. Our first sight of Jesus is through the eyesight of a little girl, whom he heals. He is surrounded by a halo. Mary Magdelene arrives afterwards and talks to Judas, who reveals that he is only staying with Jesus in hopes of being made a high official after Jesus becomes the king of kings. Jesus casts the Seven Deadly Sins out of Mary Magdalene in a multiple exposure sequence.

Jesus is also shown resurrecting Lazarus and healing the little children. Some humor is derived when one girl asks if he can heal broken legs and he says yes, she gives him a legless doll. Jesus smiles and repairs the doll. The crucifixion is foreshadowed when Jesus, having helped a poor family, wanders through the father's carpentry shop and, himself a carpenter's son, briefly helps carve a piece of wood. When a sheet covering the object is removed, it is revealed to be a cross towering over Jesus.

Jesus and his apostles enter Jerusalem, where Judas incites the people and rallies them to proclaim Jesus King of the Jews. Jesus, however, renounces all claims of being an Earthly king. Caiaphas the High Priest is also angry at Judas for having led people to a man whom he sees as a false prophet. Meanwhile, Jesus drives away Satan who offers Him an Earthly kingdom, and he protects a woman caught in adultery. The words he draws in the sand are revealed to be the sins the accusers themselves committed.

Judas, desperate to save himself from Caiaphas, agrees to turn over Jesus. Noticeably at the Last Supper, when Jesus distributes the bread and wine saying that they are his body and blood, Judas refuses to eat. He puts the cup to his lips but refuses to drink; he tears off a piece of bread but lets it drop to the ground. Towards the end, Mary confronts her son and tells him to flee the danger that is coming. Jesus replies that it must be done for the salvation of all peoples. They leave the room but the camera focuses on the table upon which a dove alights for a moment.

Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane where he is soon captured by the Roman soldiers and betrayed by Judas. Judas' life is saved, but on seeing that Jesus is going to be killed he is horrified. He takes a rope that the Romans had used to bind Jesus' wrists and runs off. Jesus is beaten and then presented by Pontius Pilate to the crowd. Mary pleads for the life of her son and Mary Magdalene speaks for him but Caiaphas bribes the crowd to shout against Jesus.

Jesus is taken away to be crucified, though he pauses on the Via Dolorosa to heal a group of cripples in an alley, regardless of his weakened condition. He is crucified and His enemies throw insults at Him. (One woman even anachronistically eats popcorn and smiles with glee at Jesus' crucifixion.) When Jesus does die, however, a great earthquake comes up. The tree where Judas had hanged himself with the rope used to bind Jesus's wrists is swallowed up amidst gouts of hellfire. The sky turns black, lightning strikes, the wind blows, the people who had mocked Jesus run in terror, and the veil covering the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple is torn in two.

The tumult ends when Mary looks up at heaven and asks God to forgive the world for the death of their son. The chaos ends and the sun shines. Jesus is taken down from the cross and is buried. On the third day, he rises from the dead as promised. To emphasize the importance of the resurrection, this scene from an otherwise black and white film is shot in color. Jesus goes to the Apostles and tells them to spread his message to the world. He tells them "I am with you always" as the scene shifts to a modern city to show that Jesus still watches over his followers.

Many of the film's intertitles are quotes (or paraphrases) from Scripture, often with chapter and verse accompanying.

Cast

Cast notes

Production details

A giant gate built for this film was later used in the 1933 film King Kong, and was among the sets torched for the "burning of Atlanta" in Gone with the Wind (1939). Other sets and costumes were re-used for the 1965 Elvis Presley film, Harum Scarum.

The King of Kings was the first movie that premiered at the noted Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California on May 18, 1927.[2]

The movie has two Technicolor sequences, the beginning and the resurrection scene, which use the two-strip process invented by Herbert Kalmus.

Accolades

In 2006, the American Film Institute nominated this film for AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers.[3] And in 2008, AFI nominated this film for its Top 10 Epic Films list.[4]

Lawsuit

In 1928 actress Valeska Surratt and scholar Mirza Ahmad Sohrab sued DeMille for stealing the scenario for The King of Kings from them.[5] The case went to trial in February 1930 but eventually settled without publicity.[6] Surratt who had left films to return to the stage in 1917 appeared to be unofficially blacklisted after the suit.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers", International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938) p 942 accessed 19 April 2014
  2. ↑ "Chinese Theatres - History". Mann Theatres. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  4. ↑ "AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  5. ↑ The Helena Independent (Helena, Montana), 25 Feb 1928
  6. 1 2 http://www.tribstar.com/history/local_story_073225216.html
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