The King of Kings

1927 DramaHistory 155 minutes (1927 roadshow) Directed by Cecil B. DeMille

Open in new tab

About The King of Kings

Mary Magdalene, played as a courtesan, is brought to Jesus. He heals the possessed, raises Lazarus, and mends a child's doll along with the child. Judas takes the bribe, refuses the bread and wine at the Last Supper, and leads the arrest in Gethsemane. Pilate sends Jesus to the cross. An earthquake follows. The burial gives way to a resurrection filmed in color. Judas hangs himself.

Cast & crew

More about The King of Kings

Cecil B. DeMille produced and directed. Jeanie MacPherson wrote the screenplay, using verses from the four Gospels. Peverell Marley photographed it. Anne Bauchens edited. The opening and the resurrection were shot in two-color Technicolor. Other reels were tinted, and the torch flames in the blue arrest scene were hand-colored. It was filmed in 1926. The New York premiere was 19 April 1927. Los Angeles followed on 18 May at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Pathé distributed it.

Themes

  • Mary Magdalene's first meeting
  • Judas at the supper
  • A colored resurrection
  • Jesus
  • Judas
  • Mary Magdalene
  • Pilate
  • Lazarus
  • Technicolor

Look

Peverell Marley shot the picture, with two-color Technicolor reserved for the opening and the resurrection.

Music

Hugo Riesenfeld wrote the synchronized score used on the 1928 general release. William Axt is also credited.

Preservation

Complete prints are held by the Library of Congress, UCLA, the George Eastman Museum, the BFI, and several European archives. A trailer is on Wikimedia Commons.

Notes

  • H. B. Warner plays Jesus. Jacqueline Logan plays Mary Magdalene. Joseph Schildkraut plays Judas. Victor Varconi plays Pilate. Ernest Torrence plays Peter. Dorothy Cumming plays Mary.
  • The 1927 roadshow ran 16 reels, about 155 minutes. The 1928 general release was cut to 12 reels, about 115 minutes, with the color scenes printed in black and white and an RCA Photophone score by Hugo Riesenfeld.
  • William Axt is also credited with music.
  • It sits between DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923) and The Sign of the Cross (1932).
  • Prints are held by the Library of Congress, UCLA, the George Eastman Museum, and the British Film Institute, among others.

Scenes

  • Judas will not take the bread and wine, then leads the soldiers to Gethsemane.
  • The resurrection sequence is the color ending of the 1927 print.

Influenced by

  • The Gospels

More films like this

More from Cecil B. DeMille

View all →