Description:
The King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with the biggest budget in the history ofHollywood, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into one of the highest-grossing films of all time.
Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and a cinematic bag of tricks that could belong to none other than Hollywood’s greatest showman, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic. Criterion is proud to present one of the best-loved films ever made in a two-disc edition featuring both the 112-minute general release version and the rarely seen 155-minute cut that premiered at the grand opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Special Features:
- New, restored digital transfers of both versions of The King of Kings: DeMille’s 155-minute roadshow version and his subsequent 112-minute general release
- New Dolby Digital 5.1 scores by composers Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version), plus the original score for the 1931 release by Hugo Riesenfeld
- Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of The King of Kings
- Cast portraits by photographer W.M. Mortensen
- Production and costume sketches by renowned artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck
- Stills gallery of rare production and publicity photos
- Original illustrated program and press book featuring photographs from the film’s gala premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and studio correspondence from DeMille
- Original theatrical trailers
- Plus: a booklet featuring a 1927 essay by DeMille, an excerpt from
- Robert S. Birchard’s new book Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood, production notes, and a new essay by film critic Peter Matthews