Though I've had it ever since its release, for obvious reasons I decided to watch THE KING OF KINGS (1927) over the Easter period. Apart from CARMEN (1915), this was the only De Mille film I've seen from the Silent era and, given the subject matter, I kind of expected an uneasy mix of ostentatious production values and heavy-handed sermonizing. While I got that in spades, resulting in my failing to keep a straight face virtually throughout the entire film, it was however counterbalanced by a surprisingly efficient pace (for a 2½-hour Silent picture about over-familiar events, I didn't find it draggy at all) and quite a few impressive individual sequences:
the first view of Jesus as a blind girl regains her sight
the cleansing of Mary Magdalene from the 7 deadly sins
a surprisingly tender and humorous touch as a little girl naively asks Jesus the "Miracle Maker" to mend her broken doll
the ever-ambitious (and sorely misguided) Judas attempting to cast the devil out of a possessed child
the tax-paying sequence when Christ asks Peter to catch a fish found to be carrying a gold coin in its mouth followed, amusingly, by the Romans themselves casting hooks in the river hoping to make a similar catch!
Christ leaning on a piece of wood and being distressed when realizing that it's a concealed cross, an omen of his own imminent fate
the stoning of the adulteress with Christ exposing her accusers' own failings by writing them down on the ground (I had always wondered just what he was supposed to be scribbling, and this here explanation is most satisfactory methinks)
the Devil's temptation of Christ (though it takes place in the temple rather than the desert)
the spectacular earthquake sequence following the Crucifixion, in which even the tree on which Judas hangs himself is engulfed
the Resurrection sequence, and especially the final dissolve from Christ being surrounded by the Apostles to his ascent over a modern-city skyline
Naturally, I preferred the "Roadshow" edition to the shorter "General Release" version (***) which omits several of my favorite sequences and even changes them around a few times. However, I was disappointed that the latter also featured very brief scenes which were missing from the longer cut (the picking of olives prior to the "Suffer little children" sequence, Caiaphas taking the blame for Christ's death before Pilate washes his hands, Jesus being offered a 'drink' by the Romans as he is being prepared for the Crucifixion) though these admittedly add very little to the proceedings, I would have preferred an uncut version of the film to two vaguely different ones! The extras were mainly text-based and kind of light for a Criterion 2-Disc Set (I skipped their typically bulky booklet for now, as going through them is always a time-consuming task!) though, of course, still quite interesting in themselves.
the first view of Jesus as a blind girl regains her sight
the cleansing of Mary Magdalene from the 7 deadly sins
a surprisingly tender and humorous touch as a little girl naively asks Jesus the "Miracle Maker" to mend her broken doll
the ever-ambitious (and sorely misguided) Judas attempting to cast the devil out of a possessed child
the tax-paying sequence when Christ asks Peter to catch a fish found to be carrying a gold coin in its mouth followed, amusingly, by the Romans themselves casting hooks in the river hoping to make a similar catch!
Christ leaning on a piece of wood and being distressed when realizing that it's a concealed cross, an omen of his own imminent fate
the stoning of the adulteress with Christ exposing her accusers' own failings by writing them down on the ground (I had always wondered just what he was supposed to be scribbling, and this here explanation is most satisfactory methinks)
the Devil's temptation of Christ (though it takes place in the temple rather than the desert)
the spectacular earthquake sequence following the Crucifixion, in which even the tree on which Judas hangs himself is engulfed
the Resurrection sequence, and especially the final dissolve from Christ being surrounded by the Apostles to his ascent over a modern-city skyline
Naturally, I preferred the "Roadshow" edition to the shorter "General Release" version (***) which omits several of my favorite sequences and even changes them around a few times. However, I was disappointed that the latter also featured very brief scenes which were missing from the longer cut (the picking of olives prior to the "Suffer little children" sequence, Caiaphas taking the blame for Christ's death before Pilate washes his hands, Jesus being offered a 'drink' by the Romans as he is being prepared for the Crucifixion) though these admittedly add very little to the proceedings, I would have preferred an uncut version of the film to two vaguely different ones! The extras were mainly text-based and kind of light for a Criterion 2-Disc Set (I skipped their typically bulky booklet for now, as going through them is always a time-consuming task!) though, of course, still quite interesting in themselves.