A splendid, deeply moving screen biography of Christ. Especially memorable is the portion of the film depicting the "Sermon on the Mount."

Nicholas Ray's lavish and beautifully constructed widescreen epic about the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
"King of Kings" is built upon a series of narrative parallels and contrasts between Jesus and Barrabas. The film portrays the thief as a rebel leader of the Jewish resistance; unlike Jesus, who preaches a message of peace, Barrabas advocates violence as a means to an end. By building his drama around this religious and philosophical conflict, Ray establishes a tension that defamiliarizes this well-known story.
Highlights include the Sermon on the Mount and the scene in which Salome asks King Herod for the head of John the Baptist.

Originally a 70mm production, shot in Super Technirama.

A silent version of the life of Christ, also called "King of Kings," was directed by Cecil B. de Mille in 1927. The cast included H.B. Warner (Christ); Jacqueline Logan (Mary Magdalene); Joseph Schildkraut (Judas); Ernest Torrence (Peter); Victor Varconi (Pontius Pilate); Dorothy Cummings (Mary, mother of Jesus); and Rudolph Schildkraut (Caiaphas).

DVD Features:

Region 1
Snap Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Mono 1.0 - English
Additional Release Material:
Featurettes - 1. THE CAMERA'S WINDOW OF THE WORLD
Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Additional Footage - 1. Newsreels (2)

Jeffrey Hunter: American Actor
Siobhan McKenna: Irish actress, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
Robert Ryan: American Actor
Hurd Hatfield: American Actor
Viveca Lindfors: Swedish Actress/In USA
Harry Guardino: American Character Actor
Rip Torn: American Actor/Director
Ron Randell: Australian Actor

Nicholas Ray: American Director/Actor

Samuel Bronston: American Producer

Philip Yordan: Screenwriter

Miklos Rozsa: Hollywood Composer, THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940), BEN-HUR (1959)

Harold F. Kress: American Editor/Director
Renee Lichtig: Editor