King of Kings (1961)

The temporary physical life of the Biblical Savior, 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:

john the baptist | king herod | crucifixion | based on the bible | male to male kiss | 

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Taglines:

Of good and evil, of love and hate, of peace and war.

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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:

Desierto de Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$5,037,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$14,483,352

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,000,000, 31 January 1989

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

This film's narrator, Orson Welles, would later narrate a portion of another Biblical work, The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis (1979). Before narrating this Biblical epic about the King of kings, Welles had earlier portrayed a king himself in another Biblical epic, David and Goliath (1960). Welles would even portray a director directing a Biblical epic in Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963), when he ironically had earlier directed himself in his own scenes in "David e Golia".

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Goofs

Two boys arrive running when Jesus is healing a paralyzed man and then change places several times between shots.

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Quotes

Lucius: [Jesus is trying to visit John the Baptist in prison] The prisoner John is not allowed visitors. If you wish to send him a message, leave it with the guard.
Jesus: I would see John.
Lucius: Why?
Jesus: I come to free John.
Lucius: [sarcastically] And just how do you propose to break him free from his cell?
Jesus: I come to free him within his cell.
Lucius: Freedom? Behind stone walls?
Jesus: You are free to come and go as you please, and yet you are still a prisoner because you place no faith in anything but your sword.

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Connections

Referenced in Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973)

User Reviews

Nicholas Ray's stark, sacred opera

"King of Kings" just came out on DVD tonight and I watched it for the first time since it came out in 1961. It's a glorious experience! There's not a bad actor in the lot! Jeffrey Hunter is superb and quietly intense! Miklos Rosza's score is quite different (all things considered) from the one for Ben-Hur, even reaching atonal dephts in the temptation in the desert scenes and giddy Renaissance heights in the entry into Jerusalem. Nicholas Ray's direction is a study in gestural choreography, all human interactions being delineated by what the actors do with their hands to each other's body (a thesis could be written on that subject and probably was). This film has rhythm and flows like a river. Enrique Alarcon's art direction is incredibly tactful, stark and opulent when the need arises, with lots of added touches of pure strangeness (why does Herod keep a dead tree at the centre of his court?). The colours, the cinematography... This film has been miraculously preserved and the transfer to DVD must have been done at the Vatican. The sermon on the mount is one of cinema's textbook scenes, with Jesus doing a walkabout in the crowd and being surrounded by all sides on a hillside in a very democratic way (even though he wears the colours of a Communist). Even the opening sequence of Pompey entering Jerusalem gave me the old chill of 42 years ago (Whatever happened to Conrado San Martin?). Thring, Hatfield and Viveca Lindfors are predictably great. But who knew about Ron Randell's great talent? Or that Rip Torn could be so un-ironic?