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The King of Kings (1927)

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Having scored big-time box office with his first Biblical epic, The Ten Commandments (1923), Cecil B. DeMille hoped to top this success with his 1927 The King of Kings. Inasmuch as he was now dealing with the life of Christ, DeMille had to be careful to serve up equal amounts of showmanship and reverence. The first creative challenge: how to "introduce" Christ in a tasteful manner? The answer: as a blind child is cured through Jesus' intervention, DeMille cuts to the child's point-of-view,

Unrated, 1 hr. 55 min.

Drama

Jeanie Macpherson

Jun 17, 1997

Kino Video

Cast

All Critics (13) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (3) | DVD (6)

The recounting of the Gospels according to De Mille seems awkward, tedious and hokey.

December 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Sermons rarely make good films, this one being no different.

November 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Projection Booth | Comment
Projection Booth

Still fascinates both as a document of its time and place and as a movie in its own right...

January 24, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | Comment

maintains fidelity to a particularly strand of the Christian imaginary, one that wants everything clean, neat, and wholesome, from the morals to the characters' beards

January 15, 2005 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | Comment
Q Network Film Desk

Tells its story with all the reverence DeMille and his cast can muster... Don't make the mistake of assuming that it's merely quaint today

January 13, 2005 Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | Comment

H.B. Warner as Jesus, decrepit as he appears, lends a quiet dignity to the film that is transfixing.

December 26, 2004 Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | Comment
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

In a genre that deserves the best artists can offer but is plagued by mediocrity, DeMille's flawed but powerful film remains one of Hollywood's most remarkable achievements.

December 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | Comment
Decent Films Guide

Passionate DeMille silent spectacle.

November 1, 2004 Comment

Typically overblown DeMille epic succeeds as breathtaking kitsch.

December 1, 2002 Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The King of Kings

cecil b demilles silent classic about the life of Jesus. demille, one of the greatest directors in history, says that this is the most important film he ever made. he claimed to have a deeply rooted reverence for the Bible but he was also a showman as a filmmaker, both sides of his character show in this film. he

February 21, 2008
sanjurosamurai
danny d

Super Reviewer

Awesome silent-film version of the Jesus myth, replete with some vintage sets and an easy to follow, dry recounting of the events shortly before and after the crucifixion (Using Scripture snippets themselves). I think I am biased, as biblical adaptations have always immensely fascinated me, but I still think this film

November 21, 2010
RicC
Richard Cranium

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Foreign Titles

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