King of Kings

1961 "Of good and evil, of love and hate, of peace and war."
7| 2h48m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 11 October 1961 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story.

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Reviews

KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?
FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
LaDonna Keskes Watch it only to marvel at the costume design and Salomé's dance. The script sounds like some bad Sunday-morning gospel broadcast, the wigs and fake beards are laughable. Robert Ryan looks either doped-up or ashamed. There are over-long scenes of people exchanging Significant Looks! The infant-death scenes look like outtakes from The Ten Commandments.This is a ponderous sea slug of a movie that you might put up as a silent background to some kind of ironic party. Cecil B. obviously took himself and his own religious beliefs very seriously--you have to wonder why he didn't take up TV evangelism.
tomsview I saw this film when it was released in 1961, I was about thirteen and ancient historical epics were just about my favourite kind of movie. However "King of Kings" fell somewhere between a spectacular epic and a Sunday School lesson. There have been quite a few films about the life of Jesus since this one was made including a couple of biggies: George Steven's "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and Zeffirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth". Unlike the other two, "King of Kings" didn't go for a multitude of well-known stars doing one-minute, pop-up appearances. Producer Samuel Bronston spent the money in other areas, and every dollar showed on the screen. Although there is no accepted physical description of Jesus, Jeffery Hunter would have to be about the best looking movie Jesus of them all. He was an actor who always looked like he should be in movies. He was almost too good looking, but in this, those piercing blue eyes added to the sense of a man who had the charisma to draw thousands of followers to him even at the risk of their lives.Robert Ryan likewise made a powerful John the Baptist; it's hard to imagine him any other way after seeing this movie.Hurd Hatfield delivers an autocratic and urbane Pilate, but Frank Thring as Herod Antipas rose to the challenge, and then some. Over-the-top and scenery devouring maybe, but he's mesmerising - he even makes Charles Laughton look positively restrained in the same role in 1953's "Salome".Nearly all the major films about Jesus base their scripts around the gospels. "King of Kings" features many of the well-known episodes, but whenever the film looks like slowing down with too many sermons, either the Zealots attack the Romans or we cut straight to the palace as Herod attacks the Ten Commandments including lusting after Salomé, his teenage step-daughter. There are no slow spots in Samuel Bronston's "King of Kings".The film has its own style, which is set with the ominous opening narration by Orson Welles; it's an absorbing three hours with more than one inspirational scene. Whether it's the best movie about the life of Jesus is definitely down to the way you like your bible told.
AaronCapenBanner Nicholas Ray directed this reverent telling of the life of Jesus Christ(played by Jeffrey Hunter) from his birth in Bethlehem, the visit of the three wise men, to his adult years, where he preached loyalty to the one God and doing good works as the path to Heaven. This gets him in trouble with the Roman authorities, who disagree with his teachings and consider them contrary to Roman belief and law. As Jesus's followers(such as John The Baptist, who gets into his own trouble) and legend grows, Roman leader Pontius Pilate feels compelled to intervene and put an end to this divine messenger by ordering his Crucifiction, though this barbaric practice does not end the matter at all... Fine biblical drama doesn't quite have the same dramatic impact as "Ben-Hur",(more like "The Ten Commandments") but is still nicely done.
k-hill This is an awful movie. The acting is wooden, the sets are unhistorical and the central drama of the gospels is missing. It is as if the movie makers set out to make a tableaux set meant to inspire piety rather than understanding. This is a Sunday School story of Christ. Hunter simply doesn't know what to do with the role so he does nothing. Robert Ryan turns John the Baptist into a boring figure, which is quite an accomplishment. Why is Barabbas so important in this rendering? What liberties did the film makers take to get some good old action scenes into the film. Why is the set for Joseph and Mary's house about ten times larger than a real house would have been at the time. And why does no one look Jewish in the movie?Rip Torn as Judas Iscariot and Brigid Bazlen as Salome give a good effort in a lost cause. The score is superb but how much more interesting it might have been if they had used music contemporary to the time of the gospel instead of the lush Hollywood epic style of the late fifties?