The King of Kings (1927)
This month I’m looking at Cecil B. DeMille’s silent classic The King of Kings (1927).
The recent Criterion Collection DVD release for this film included both the widely seen 1928 version of this film and the original, longer 1927 cut.
(Director: Cecil B. DeMille)
(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, David Imboden… Andrew, a fisherman, Charles Belcher… Philip, Clayton Packard… Bartholomew, Robert Ellsworth… Simon, the zealot, Charles Requa… James The Lesser, John T. Prince… Thaddeus, Jacqueline Logan… Mary Magdalene, Rudolph Schildkraut… Caiaphas, high priest of Israel, Sam De Grasse… Pharisee, Casson Ferguson… Scribe, Victor Varconi… Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, Majel Coleman… Proculla, wife of Pilate, Montagu Love… Roman Centurion, William Boyd… Simon Of Cyrene, Micky Moore… Mark, Theodore Kosloff… Malchus, captain of the high priest’s guards, George Siegmann… Barabbas, Kenneth Thomson… Lazarus, Alan Brooks… Satan, Viola Louie… Adulterous woman, Muriel McCormac… Blind girl)
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November 3rd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Well done as usual, sir! I’m currently sorting through the silent era, so this one was of particular interest. I think it’s important to make a distinction between the 1927 and 1928 versions of this film. It’s a shame, I think, that the 1928 version held sway for so long.
Do you know what the motivation was for doing the re-release? Also, what happened in 2004 to bring the original version back to light?
November 12th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Not entirely sure what caused the re-cut, but the re-release is simply criterion doing what they do best.
Matt