King of Kings

For me and, I suspect, a lot of other Boomers who were pious as kids and tipped off by nuns about the 4:30 Movie on Good Friday, this one is beyond criticism. When it's time for us to go, many of us will be seeing Hunter's face, baby blues and all, in the midst of the white light... But personal soft spots aside, it's a pretty good Jesus picture. Hunter may speak with the unctious blandness of a TV game show host, but he's earnest and vigorous and has a certain charisma you could take as Godhood... The music is sublime. Ray's direction has a lot of the REBEL WITHOUT quirks. Note the weird angles during Salome's dance. The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best sequence. Those oddly lit and artsily angled close-ups of Jesus are intriguing. Then He comes over the hill with His arms outstretched and it's pure glory... Sweet as a jelly bean, redolent of Easter lilies.

'King of Kings' features Jeffrey Hunter's finest performance, as a young, dynamic Jesus of Nazareth, and his interpretation, open and earnest, is the best part of a movie both uneven and flawed.

Produced by many of the people responsible for 'Ben Hur', the film utilizes some of the same sets, actors (Frank Thring appears in major roles in both films), and composer (Miklos Rozsa, whose score for 'King of Kings' was one of his finest). The cast was fleshed out by respected actors (Robert Ryan is too old but charismatic as John the Baptist, Siobhan McKenna is a glowing, if also too old Mary, Brigid Bazlen, a deliciously wicked and oversexed Salome, Harry Guardino, an 'over-the-top' Barabbas, a VERY young Rip Torn scores as Judas). While the cast didn't have the 'star power' of 'Ben Hur', or many other Christian epics, the actors, by and large, perform credibly in their roles, particularly Hurd Hatfield and Viveca Lindfors, as Pilate and his wife, Claudia, and Ron Randell as Tribune Lucius.

The film was a MUCH less expensive project than 'Ben Hur'; the budget restraints show most glaringly in recreating Jesus' ministry (most of Christ's miracles are only referred to, not shown), and extras casting (non-professional Spanish townspeople, overdubbed with some truly RIPE dialog!).

The film works best when focusing on Jesus; unfortunately, it frequently veers off into distracting subplots about Barabbas and the zealots, and the decadence of Herod's court. These stories consume a LOT of screen time, and damage the overall impact of the film.

Yet rising above all this is Jeffrey Hunter's interpretation of the Savior. Easily the most audience-friendly of all the actors who have assailed the role, Hunter took a lot of flack for his 'matinee idol' good looks, and piercing blue eyes, but his kindness, sincerity, and the complete believability with which he delivers Christ's words overcome any qualms about his appearance. The Sermon on the Mount is a film high point, and magnificent; the Crucifixion and Resurrection have the kind of power that can bring a lump to your throat, even after repeated viewings.

While 'King of Kings' lacks the big names and budget of 'The Greatest Story Ever Told', or the emotional core of 'Jesus of Nazareth' or 'The Last Temptation of Christ', in Jeffrey Hunter, the film presents possibly the most compassionate of all screen Messiahs, and makes this film a very moving experience!

This movie is so underrated. I think it's one of the best movies about Christ which was well played by Jeffery Hunter. There was also a great supporting cast that included Sobian McKenna, Robert Ryan and many others. Why this film

didn't get any attention at the 1961 Oscars, i'll never know. I would have given this film an Oscar Nomination for Miklos Rosza's music score which is one of his best scores ever. I think also the set designs were pretty good and worth of an Oscar nomination as well. The Cinematography was pretty good even though

there was better work at that time. I think this movie beats 1965's "The Greatest Story Ever Told" which went way too long and just wasn't as interesting as this one. Nicholas Ray did a great job with this one and this film deserved a lot more than it got.

A recent screening of "King of Kings" at New York's Museum of Modern Art (Gramercy Theater) proved the durability of this production. A sizable group of people were prepared to titter or howl at what they thought would be another mindless Biblical epic -- instead, they were quickly absorbed and attentive to the film's virtues: its reverence, economy, visual beauty, and especially Jeffrey Hunter's quietly commanding Christ. Yes, this is still the good film based on the New Testament (with some subtle and searching script additions). Thanks still go to Nicholas Ray for his tactful, expert handling of a timeless story.

There is a lot of great talent here in King of Kings and on the most part it is well-used. King of Kings does have some unevenness, with the Barabbas and Herod subplots taking too much time and there should have been more of Jesus. There are a few performances that didn't quite do it for me, Frank Thring and Harry Guardino go overboard in the hammy camp department as Herod Antipas and Barabbas and Royal Dano has some very awkward, emotionless dialogue delivery that was suggestive of him not knowing what to do with it. A lot of King of Kings is very good though, Robert Ryan is subdued at times but is a charismatic John the Baptist, Rip Torn is a moving Judas, Hurd Hatfield plays Pontious Pilate with authority and Brigid Bazlen's Salome is sexy and wicked. The film is intelligently scripted and directed with skill by Nicholas Ray who knows how to do majestic spectacle and character relationships, there's proof of knowing how to balance the two as well. The story sustains its running time very well, and while not completely successful with the aforementioned distracting subplots but the Dance of the Seven Veils, the Last Supper and Gethsemane scenes are very well done. Jesus' relationships with the apostles and his mother are believably portrayed too. Jeffrey Hunter is surprisingly excellent, the quiet dignity he brings is perfect for Jesus and his eyes communicate so much. There are several fantastic things too, the best asset being Miklos Rozsa's score which is just marvellous and essentially IS the film. Rozsa was a truly great film composer with some equally great scores under his belt, and he provides some majestic and beautiful moments, the hauntingly beautiful yet uplifting scoring in the ending scene in my mind is some of the best he ever did. The ending honestly left me floored, it should be emotional and it was, devastating even and the score has a lot to do with it. Orson Welles' narration, which added a lot to the story actually, is distinctive and understatedly powerful, and the film is very lavishly mounted in detail and scope with the cinematography just as sumptuous. Overall, King of Kings is far from perfect with the story needing more balance and a few performances underwhelmed but there are a lot of good things, with Hunter, the ending, the production values, Welles' narration and the music especially working. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox