Warner Bros. | 1961 | 168 mins. | PG-13
The second of producer Samuel Bronston’s big-gauge roadshow epics filmed in Spain, King of Kings (1961) is a tasteful rendering of the Christ story and was MGM’s follow-up to their phenomenally successful release of Ben-Hur (1959). Nicholas Ray directs the film with his usual intelligence, however, scenes with Jesus (Jeffrey Hunter) are less interesting than the film’s preoccupation with supporting characters like John the Baptist, Barabbas, Judas, and Roman Centurion Lucius, make the scenes with Jesus (Jeffrey Hunter), nearly fade into the background. While visually attractive, the acting is uneven and the movie not particularly memorable.
A remake of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1927 epic, MGM went out all out to put this one together. Along with producer Samuel Bronston (El Cid, 55 Days at Peking, The Fall of the Roman Empire) and director Nicholas Ray (Johnny Guitar, Rebel without a Cause, 55 Days at Peking) Miklos Rozsa (The Thief of Bagdad, Spellbound, Ben-Hur, El Cid) composed the music; Harold F. Kress (Mrs. Miniver, The Yearling, The Teahouse of the August Moon, How the West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told) edited the film; Philip Yordan (The Naked Jungle, El Cid, 55 Days at Peking, Battle of the Bulge) wrote the script (with a little help from the “New Testament” and other historical documents); and Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man) wrote the narration, uncredited. Now that’s an impressive group.
The first 20 minutes or so is quite good, a lengthy bit of exposition narrated by an uncredited Orson Welles describing the historical background of Rome and its relationship to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. After that, the film goes on to the expected scenes, starting with the birth of Jesus Christ, his early adulthood and 40-day/40-night fast in the desert, his Baptism, his miracles, his entry into Jerusalem, his incarceration, his trial, and his eventual crucifixion and resurrection.
Unfortunately, because the filmmakers seem afraid to paint Jesus as anything less than a deity, Jeffrey Hunter is left with little to do; he sort of floats around, gloriously impervious to any danger from his enemies. Hunter has little charisma, so the fact that he has so little to do is only more apparent.
Jesus’ deification stands in stark contrast with rabble-rouser Barabbas (Harry Guardino), who’s convinced only violent revolt against the Roman occupiers can bring peace to Jerusalem. The contrasting philosophies of Barabbas and Christ present a moral dilemma for Judas (Rip Torn), one of Barabbas’s trusted rebels. It’s not a big stretch to think the conflict was created to facilitate several big-scale battle scenes, including an especially impressive, climatic one where Barabbas’s army is completely wiped out, no match at all for the better equipped, better organized Romans.
I can’t leave this review without some discussion of the acting. Sadly, several key players seem hopelessly miscast. Among them, Robert Ryan as John the Baptist simply looks lost in the spectacle of the whole thing; Jeffrey Hunter is just too laid back as Jesus.
In terms of the supporting players, the filmmakers assembled an impressive, international cast. Siobhan McKenna is a standout as Mary, the mother of Jesus. Bringing tenderness, joy and sorrow simultaneously into several line readings, she really brings the character to life. Hurd Hatfield is surprisingly understated as Pontius Pilate and manages to convey an imperial majesty combined with arrogance that is right for the role. Frank Thring’s hyper-sibilant take on Herod Antipas is a great fun to watch.
Most of the life in the film comes from the people around Jesus who are affected by his presence, particularly the Apostle Judas, Barabbas and John the Baptist. The Romans are given equal, if not more, screen time then Jesus and his followers. While it’s not Samuel Bronston’s finest hour, King of Kings has some merit.
King of Kings‘ brilliant AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1 is gorgeous and is one of the best big format transfers to Blu-ray that I’ve seen. Colors really pop, particularly reds. The Roman uniforms and some of the wall mountings demonstrate a rich red texture at times. The picture offers a better than average image when it comes to sharpness and detail. Black levels occasionally fluxuate but for a film that’s fifty years old, this is an impressive transfer.
Audio comes courtesy of a DTS HD-MA lossless 5.1 track. The primary beneficiary of the lossless encoding is the Miklós Rózsa score. The mix is focused primarily on the front three channels of the 5.1 sound field. Directional dialog effects are noticeable, but seem “pulled-in” towards the center compared to most circa 1961 theatrical mixes. Dialogue is frequently very high up in the mix, and quality varies from scene to scene likely due the extensive post-dubbing that was done. Alternate language dubs are available in Dolby Digital mono in French, German, Italian, and Portuguese.
We get the following special features:
- The Camera’s Window of the World (SD; 3:56) a brief black and white on location look at filming the Sermon on the Mount sequence.
- King of Kings: Impressive Premiere on Two Coasts (SD; 1:47) black and white newsreel footage of stars and executives arriving at the film’s premieres at the Loew’s on Broadway in New York City and the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles.
- Additional Egyptian Theater Footage (SD; 1:09) more black and white footage culled from the Egyptian premiere.
- Theatrical Trailer (SD; 3:22) the way trailers used to be done, namely big, bold and with production values!
