From the Manger to the Cross
About From the Manger to the Cross
The film follows Jesus, played by Robert Henderson-Bland, from the nativity through the ministry to the cross. Gene Gauntier plays Mary. Intertitles quote the Bible between the scenes. The company shot the story in the places named in it, including Jerusalem and Egypt, rather than on a New York lot.
Cast & crew
More about From the Manger to the Cross
Sidney Olcott directed. Gene Gauntier wrote the script and plays Mary. Frank J. Marion produced for Kalem. George K. Hollister photographed it. Kalem opened it in London on October 3, 1912, and in New York on October 17. It runs 71 minutes. Alice Hollister and Robert G. Vignola are in the cast with Bland and Gauntier. After Vitagraph bought Kalem, the film was reissued in February 1919. Turner Classic Movies gives the cost as $35,000. The reported gross is above $1,000,000.
Themes
Background
Kalem released it in October 1912, while the company was still sending stock companies abroad. Vitagraph, having absorbed Kalem, put it out again in February 1919.
In film history
A life of Jesus photographed in Jerusalem and Egypt, with Bible verses as the intertitles, rather than a passion play staged in a studio.
Making
Marion handed the troupe a script as they left for the Middle East. Hollister photographed Bland and Gauntier in Jerusalem and in Egypt, and the exposed film went back to New York for the finish.
Reviews
Robert Osborne and the National Film Preservation Foundation have called it the most important silent film on the life of Christ. In England, clergy argued in print over whether a theater should charge admission for the crucifixion.
Look
George K. Hollister shot the company on location in Jerusalem and Egypt, with the landscape used as the setting for the Bible scenes.
Preservation
A full print survives. The Library of Congress selected it for the National Film Registry in 1998. A digital copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The full title on some prints is From the Manger to the Cross, or Jesus of Nazareth.
- Gauntier and Olcott sent the negative back to Kalem in New York. After the film made money, they left the company in a fight over credit and pay.
- Home-video copies are often credited to Vitagraph, or to Warner Bros., which later owned Vitagraph, because of the 1919 reissue.
- The Library of Congress placed it on the National Film Registry in 1998.
- Shorter Kalem melodramas shot on the same trip paid for the travel.
Scenes
- The nativity and the later scenes are played in the open, with a verse from the Bible on the title before the action.
- The film ends on the crucifixion.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (From the Manger to the Cross (1912).webm)
