Film Snail

6.5

The King of Kings

NR·1927·155m

Drama

History

Drama

History

Summary

The King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with one of the biggest budgets in Hollywood history, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into a silent-era blockbuster. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and the great showman’s singular cinematic bag of tricks, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic.

Cast

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

Jacqueline Logan

Mary Magdalene

Charles Belcher

Philip

Victor Varconi

Pontius Pilate - Governor of Judea

Montagu Love

Roman Centurion

William Boyd

Simon Of Cyrene

Julia Faye

Martha

May Robson

Mother of Gestas

Sidney Franklin

(uncredited)

John George

(uncredited)

Rex Ingram

(uncredited)

Ruth Miller

(uncredited)

Ayn Rand

(uncredited)

Sally Rand

Mary Magdalene's Slave (uncredited)

Mark Strong

(uncredited)

David Imboden

Andrew - a Fisherman

Clayton Packard

Bartholomew

Robert Ellsworth

Simon - the Zealot

Charles Requa

James the Lesser

John T. Prince

Thaddeus

Rudolph Schildkraut

Caiaphas - High Priest of Israel

Sam De Grasse

Pharisee

Casson Ferguson

Scribe

Majel Coleman

Proculla - Wife of Pilate

Michael D. Moore

Mark (as Micky Moore)

Theodore Kosloff

Malchus - Captain of the High Priest's Guards

George Siegmann

Barabbas

Josephine Norman

Mary Of Bethany

Kenneth Thomson

Lazarus

Alan Brooks

Satan

Viola Louie

Adulterous Woman

Muriel McCormac

Blind Girl

Clarence Burton

Dysmas - the Repentant Thief

James Pier Mason

Gestas - the Unrepentant Thief (as James Mason)

Dot Farley

Maidservant of Caiaphas

Hector V. Sarno

Galilean Carpenter (as Hector Sarno)

Leon Holmes

Imbecile Boy

Otto Lederer

Eber - a Pharisee

Bryant Washburn

Young Roman

Lionel Belmore

Roman Noble

Monte Collins Sr.

Rich Judeaean

Lucio Flamma

Gallant Of Galilee (as Luca Flamma)

Sôjin Kamiyama

Prince Of Persia (as Sojin)

André Cheron

Wealthy Merchant

Willy Castello

Babylonian Noble

Noble Johnson

Charioteer

Jim Farley

Executioner

Crew

Director

Cecil B. DeMille

Story, Writer

Jeanie Macpherson

Reviews

Geronimo1967

June 6, 2022

As biblical epics go, this is probably the best in my book. Cecil B. de Mille has crafted a masterpiece of silent cinema depicting the tale of the Christ from the beginnings of his journey until the resurrection. Using partly scripted and actual verses from the bible, the intertitles are expertly spaced to offer support to the dialogue when required, but largely we are left to follow the story with the grand scale imagery doing the talking for it. The detail is meticulous - costumes, sets etc, as you would expect - but the use of light and shade, particularly at the end, is magnificent. The characterisations from HB Warner as Jesus; Joseph Schildkraut (Judas) and Jacqueline Logan as the courtesan Mary Magdalene, replete with zebra-driven chariot all contribute to a rich, extensive, cast whose facial expressions carry far more weight than any words might do. Long? Well it's not, actually - the enterprise flies by (I saw it beautifully accompanied by the Sosin 2004 score) and if you've any interest in the history of cinema (or Christianity) then this is a must watch.