King of Kings

Capsule/Summary ***½

King of Kings adapts the life of Jesus Christ into a film that melds the epic scope and large format spectacle of a Samuel Bronston production with the auteurist stamp of Director Nicholas Ray.  A number of subplots keep the proceedings interesting for audiences highly familiar with the central story, although they also occasionally make the film a bit awkward and unwieldy in its pacing.  It is presented on Blu-ray with superb audio and video and some minor extras carried over from previous standard definition releases of the film.

Directed By: Nicholas Ray

Starring: Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Ron Randell, Viveca Lindfors, Rita Gam, Carmen Sevilla,  Brigid Bazlen, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, Frank Thring, Guy Rolfe, Royal Dano, Robert Ryan

The Film ***½

King of Kings is an epic adaptation of the story of the life of Jesus Christ (Hunter) from The Nativity on through to [spoiler alert] The Resurrection.  In addition to adapting familiar elements from the four Gospels of the New Testament, the film includes novel subplots involving the characters of John the Baptist (Ryan), Judas (Torn), and Barabbas (Guardino) as well as several newly invented characters, inclusive of a Roman soldier, Lucius (Randell), who performs dutifully while becoming increasingly sympathetic to Jesus' message.

King of Kings finds director Nicholas Ray collaborating with producer Samuel Bronston in an adaptation of the one story all Christians know by heart. Despite the demands of the epic production and the familiarity of audiences with the story and its central characters, Ray still somehow manages to impress his auteurist stamp on the film.  Ray's favorite themes involving human weakness and frailty in the face of social and political systems, while not easily melded with the film's central character of Jesus Christ, are integrated into the subplots involving John the Baptist, Salome, Herod, Pontius Pilate, Judas, Barabbas, and the Roman soldier Lucius.  An extended prologue sets up the socio-political tenor of the times, illustrating the Roman occupation of Jewish lands before proceeding to the Nativity.

In addition to allowing Ray to explore thematic content of interest, these subplots also offer up the sex, violence, and large scale spectacle audiences would expect from a Samuel Bronston film.  While the whole film is filled with visually striking examples of the keen senses of color and composition of Ray, his DPs, and his production designers, the large-scale action scenes, mostly involving revolutionary Barabbas and his efforts to strike against the Romans, are not quite as kinetic and exciting as other epics of the era.  Individual shots are pure Super Technirama 70 eye candy, but the actual action feels a bit too "stagey".

In the central role of Jesus, Jeffrey Hunter certainly seems otherworldly with his bright glowing blue eyes, and he gives a solid if not spectacular performance, not quite finding the "sweet spot" between human and divine necessary to make the critical scenes dramatizing the Passion as moving as they are in other adaptations.  He is given a tremendous lift, however by the moving and emotional music of Miklós Rózsa, which is probably on the short list for greatest scores not to be nominated for an Oscar. Rip Torn, as Judas, is given an invented relationship with Barrabas' revolutionaries and a clever motivation for his betrayal that ties in with Jesus' teachings, making him an interesting and tragic figure. Hurd Hatfield seems as obvious a casting choice for Pontius Pilate as Robert Ryan is a surprise choice for John the Baptist, yet both actors manage to create something interesting with their roles. Ron Randell as Roman Soldier Lucius, provides an identifiable entry point for viewers and a through-line connecting most of the movie's occasionally disjointed subplots. In the critical role of Barabbas, Harry Guardino seems a bit over the top with his revolutionary ravings, which robs the film of some of its drama in its final act.

The Video *****

The video comes courtesy of an AVC encoded 1080p presentation.  Detail, color saturation, and contrast are  all top notch with no noticeable signs of film wear and tear save for a couple of shots that may be from dupe sources noticeable only because of a barely perceptible increase in grain and contrast. This presentation is reference quality with no need of caveats such as "for a 50 year old film".

The Audio ***½

Audio comes courtesy of a DTS HD-MA lossless 5.1 track. The primary beneficiary of the lossless encoding is the outstanding 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" somewhat towards the center compared to most circa 1961 theatrical mixes.  Dialog 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.

The Extras **

Extras are accessible from the disc main menu under the "Special Features" heading. They are presented in AVC encoded 4:3 standard definition video with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound unless otherwise indicated.

The Camera's Window of the World (3:56) is a vintage behind the scenes look at the film's location shooting in Spain.  The grainy black and white footage of the filmmaker's preparing for and shooting the "Sermon on the Mount" sequenceis presented with narration that is in turn informative and promotional. 

King of Kings: Impressive Premiere on Two Coasts (1:47) is a vintage black and white "News of the Day" piece looking at the simultaneous Broadway and Hollywood premieres of the film with narrator Michael Fitzmaurice hyping the film and identifying the various luminaries arriving for the screenings.

King of Kings: Egyptian Theater Premiere, Hollywood, CA (1:09) Is some additional "b-roll" footage from the Hollywood premiere with silent footage of numerous celebrities arriving accompanied by excerpts from the film's score.

Theatrical Trailer (16:9 Video - 3:23) is a suitably epic promo for the film emphasizing its spectacle and diverse international cast.

Packaging

The disc is enclosed in a standard Blu-ray case with die-cut holes to reduce plastic use and no inserts..