Until I saw King of Kings, I'd kind of forgotten that the 2000-year old tale of Jesus Christ can also be viewed as a really good story. Regardless of one's religious convictions, one must concede that there are a lot of elements that effectively incorporate the fundamentals required to tell a good story. You've got villains, battles, miracles, murders, betrayals, and mystery. I don't think it's blasphemy to acknowledge that these aspects do exist, and one could even argue that these components have been one of many reasons Christianity is embarking on its third millennium.
As a Catholic who has seen a fair share of religious movies from cathechism, youth groups and retreats, King of Kings is a well-made epic, but certainly isn't the best of its kind. On the one hand, it features thoroughly exquisite production design, with enormous set pieces and beautifully filmed backdrops. The costumes and cast of thousands are meticulous and believable. On the other hand, this production seems to take quite a few liberties with the story, which is probably why it isn't as well known compared to other entries in the genre. It also skips over certain key passages and expands others into half-hour dialogues or action scenes.
The 1961 film opens with some interesting backstory, relating the plight of the Jewish people in the days before the Messiah is born. It then jumps to Jeffrey Hunter as the adult Jesus, a figure who proclaims God's Word against Herod Antipas's wishes (Frank Thring, who played the Collector in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and, ironically, Pontius Pilate in Ben-Hur). Jesus's popularity and number of followers grows until he is put to trial before Pontius Pilate (Hurd Hatfield) and crucified. His death and subsequent resurrection becomes the cornerstone of Christianity.
It should come as no surprise that Rebel Without A Cause director Nicholas Ray is behind the camera here, since he is essentially depicting a different kind of rebel. Ray's aforementioned liberties with the text include expanding the part of the prisoner Barabbas (Harry Guardino) into one of the most prominent and influential characters in the story. He also transforms Pilate's questioning of Jesus into some sort of bizarre courtroom scene, with a soldier named Lucius (Ron Randell) appearing as the Son of God's attorney. The unintentionally funniest scene is when Jesus is being tempted by Satan in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. The Devil sounds exactly like "actor Troy McClure" from The Simpsons, and since he never appears visually in the scene, it leaves you with a smarmy lounge singer taste.
I really liked how Ray downplays the miracles that Jesus performs by introducing them second-hand by specific characters, who gossip about them without actually having seen them performed. And whenever a miracle is shown, Christ is depicted by a shadow, another interesting choice. King of Kings is a large-scale production that comfortably depicts a large-scale subject matter. It tells one of the most important stories of all time without compromising its reverent stance.
