King of Kings (1961)

The life of Jesus Christ.

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writer:

Philip Yordan (screenplay)

Stars:

Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKenna, Hurd Hatfield

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Jesus
Siobhan McKenna	...	Mary
Hurd Hatfield	...	Pontius Pilate
Ron Randell	...	Lucius
Viveca Lindfors	...	Claudia
Rita Gam	...	Herodias
Carmen Sevilla	...	Mary Magdalene
Brigid Bazlen	...	Salome
Harry Guardino	...	Barabbas
Rip Torn	...	Judas
Frank Thring	...	Herod Antipas
Guy Rolfe	...	Caiaphas
Royal Dano	...	Peter
Robert Ryan	...	John The Baptist
Edric Connor	...	Balthazar

Storyline

The story of the life of Jesus Christ from his birth in Bethlehem to his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. Filmed on a relatively grand scale, the film includes all of the major events referred to in the New Testament; his baptism by John the Baptist; the miracles - cripples walking, blind men seeing; the fishes and the loaves; and so on. The film actually begins with the Roman invasion by Pompey in 65 B.C., the appointment of King Herod the Great by the Romans and finally the crowning of Herod Antipas after he murders his father. The revolt led by Barrabas is also included and John the Baptist's beheading as Salome's price for dancing for Herod.

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Plot Keywords:

king | king herod | crucifixion | baptism | resurrection | 

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Taglines:

A Story of The Christ. The Glory of His Spoken Words.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violent content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 October 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Samuel Bronston's Production King of Kings

Filming Locations:

Chinchón, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$5,037,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Samuel Bronston Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

168 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) Mono (35 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ray Bradbury wrote the narration, but was uncredited.

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Goofs

As the Romans enter the city, the tops of their spears flap back and forth because they are made of rubber.

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Quotes

Lucius: [to Jesus, who is trying to visit John the Baptist in prison] For some reason, I favored Your mother once before. I will give You a moment with the prisoner John. But remember this... break Caesar's law, and you shall find in me the most merciless of men.

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Connections

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics (2009)

User Reviews

"I am fire, he is water! How can we ever meet?"

For all its low reputation, Samuel Bronston's much-mocked King of Kings is easily the best and most intelligent of the 'devotional' versions of the life of Christ, largely because it sets Jesus as a historical figure and, to a degree, a victim of history and politics in troubled times. More importantly, it manages to do it without being as relentlessly dreary and one-note as George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told, which becomes more of an endurance test with each passing year. Even the vigorously-staged battle scenes serve a real dramatic purpose, pitting Barabbas' Davidic warrior would-be Messiah against Jesus' spiritual deliverer ("I am fire, he is water – how can we ever meet?") that is many ways the real conflict of the film: the fight between material pragmatism (the Romans, Herod, Barabbas) and spiritual idealism (Jesus and his followers). Even Caiphas is given a very modern reading, not as a black-hearted villain but as an unpopular Roman-appointed religious leader who genuinely cares for his flock, fearing that Jesus' popularity could be used by the Romans to start a Holocaust that will destroy his people.

There's much imagination at work too: while Jeffrey Hunter's Messiah suffers from MGM's insistence on redubbing the part in more 'masterful' tones, he proactively interacts with the crowd in the Sermon on the Mount, played almost like a press conference, while the Last Supper takes its visual design not from Da Vinci but from the CND's peace symbol. The casting IS variable – Robert Ryan's John the Baptist, Hurd Hatfield's Pontius Pilate, Harry Guardino's Barabbas, Ron Randell's centurion, Guy Rolfe's Caiphas and Gregoire Aslan and the great Frank Thring as Herod Sr. and Jr. are fine, but Rip Torn is surprisingly awkward as an otherwise well-conceived Judas Iscariot doomed by compromise, Royal Dano's Simon Peter is a better idea on paper than on screen (particularly when given dialogue) and Siobhan McKenna's eminently punchable misty-eyed Mary is a tad too Oirish Catlic for my tastes. Yet despite its weaknesses and the virtual sidelining of Jesus for much of the running time – this is more a film about His times and His effect on those around Him than His life – it's never less than totally involving, and often genuinely moving.

Despite reputedly losing interest in post-production, Nicholas Ray's direction is excellent, his mastery of the wide screen making great use of the 70mm format and showing real inspiration in his handling of some of the miracles, scenes greatly enhanced by Miklos Rozsa's superlative score. Even Ray Bradbury's poetic narration, beautifully delivered by Orson Welles, originally intended as a quick fix to paper over the cracks in the narrative, genuinely adds to the film's complex political picture of an occupied territory at war with itself. Not that some of the cracks aren't still visible, as in the meaningful exchange of looks on the Temple steps between Jesus and Richard Johnson (whose constantly changing part – one day a freed gladiator, the next an Arab, the next a Romanized Jew - was otherwise totally deleted). But they're minor complaints in an extraordinary epic that achieves more of its ambitions than its given credit for.

Incidentally, how on earth did they get the obscene graffiti on the barracks walls past the censors in 1961? Less obvious on the DVD copy, you can't miss it on the 70mm prints!