The King of Kings (1927)

Jesus Christ faces religious and political oppression during his ministry and in the days before his death and resurrection.

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writer:

Jeanie Macpherson (story)

Stars:

H.B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrence

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

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. From there the Bible story unfolds through the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

---

Plot Keywords:

based on the bible | 1st century | miracle | religious sect | blind boy | 

---

Taglines:

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.

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kralj kraljev

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,773,970

Company Credits

Production Co:

DeMille Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min (1931 re-release) 155 min (DVD) (premiere)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Black and White Color (2-strip Technicolor) (some sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was restored in 2017 at Lobster Film Laboratories, using a 4K scan performed in 2016 at Lobster Films and the George Eastman Museum's Film Preservation Services, mostly based on Cecil B. DeMille's personal nitrate tinted print as well as elements from the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the David Pierce film collection, the George Eastman Museum and Modern Sound Pictures, with Hugo Riesenfeld's original score extended, adapted and conducted by Robert Israel to accommodate the longer runtime.

---

Goofs

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

---

Quotes

Title Card: This is a story of JESUS of NAZARETH...

---

Crazy Credits

In the original premiere version, there is no 'THE END' title. The film fades to black after the final scene of Jesus looming over a modern city with the title 'LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS' superimposed.

---

Alternate Versions

This film was re-released in 1931 with a synchronized musical score.

---

Connections

Version of The Jesus Film (1979)

User Reviews

One of the best tellings of the life of Jesus still holds up even after almost a century

My first memory of this film was getting up at 5 or 6 am to see this on a local PBS station in the 1970's. I thought it was cool that they were showing an old silent film that had some color sequences. The film has always danced around my brain. When Criterion put out the double disc I picked it up mostly out of curiosity.

Watching for the film for the first time in decades I was struck by how moving the film is. Certainly its over done and over blown and all of the things you think of when you think of silent movies, however its also very human. Amazingly Jesus laughs, smiles and has a real presence as a human being, which is missing from most other versions of the tale. Think of the sound King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Passion of the Christ all are so stiff as to be dull and laughable. Yes some of the piety is laughable, but there is also tears. At the beginning when Jesus heals the blind girl its heard not to weep at the beauty of it. Even Jesus is happy at the turn of events.

And then there is the spectacle, Mary Magdalene's home, the crucifixion, the resurrection are grand movie spectacle moments. silent or not 80 years old or not, the scenes still make you go "wow" even after all of the advances in computer generated effects.

This is a great movie. Its not perfect, there are silly moments, but there is more than enough to make you wonder if the Hollywood and filmmakers elsewhere should have ever bothered to try to duplicate the magic of this film and the story it tells.