"THE KING OF KINGS."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19780, 29 October 1927, Page 9 (Supplement)

"THE KING OF KINGS."

PRAISE FOR CECIL B, DE MILLE. *' If in doubt that the dramatisation of the life of Christ by Oecil B. De Mi lie is worth while, one has only to stand in the foyer at eight o'clock, as the record-smashing crowds enter, laughing arid chatting animatedly in the usual high spirits of theatre-goers; and, at eleventhirty, watch the same people emerge ,• from the theatre, silent, meditative, tearstained." Thus Mr. Lloyd C. Douglas, writing in an America paper, the Christian Century, on the new screen, play, "The King of Kings," which he * the " Gospel According to De Miile." 41 Everybody who has seen the picture," he says, " has deep convictions about it, one way or the other, and most people s«jem to be enthusiastically for it. lj " As for the correctness of the setting, it-is doubtful if modern scientific paleontology, at its utmost of skill, has ever reStored any ancient life-form with such .painstaking fidelity. Mr. De Mille did not ask the price required to produce a complete replica of the temple. The very cobblestones of the Via Dolorosa are worn smooth with the sandals of generations. A. fleeting glimpse of the Hanking alleyvrays crowded with markets cost months of patient toil and a king's ransom. If the average preacher gave himself with as deep concern to the business of revitalising the story of Jesus and his times, churchgoing would be vastly more rewardGlimpses of Hollywood. "Of course, there are occasional glimpses of Hollywood—not Hollywood scenery, but Hollywood states of mind—disclosed, as if from double exposure, on th€ film* The first fifteen minutes are - distinctly Hoilywoodish. Digressions from the traditional story are so patent, ' willful, and bizarre, that one hardly identifies . the persona dramatis. And yet, as the action proceeds, one begins to understand the producer's motive in lifting people to a more conspicuous position in life than they have been thought to occupy. De Mille wants to make it clear, later on, that Judas did not sell out because he was in need of a small sum of money, but to avenge himself and find redress for his disappointment over Jesus' unwillingness to acc<pt a crown. Whatever the literaJist may think the sum total of the Dc Mille exegesis is unquestionably correct. At all events, the lesson taught is the Tight one. ' "But never has the high priest's story been so adequately told. The significance of the hostility shown to Jesus by the temple authorities, who had become involved with predatory commerce, on the one hand, and sn unscrupulous political state, on the other, and are obliged to »ntfrgonise the Galilean's programme of Bocial justice or bring down upon themselves a storm of wrath and ruin—all this js featured with such skill and understanding that one wishes the picture the 11 largest possible success, if for no other reason. If present-day Christianity can leaim exactly what forces tcok Jesus to Calvary, it will be in a better position to insure against his being daily crucified afresh and put to open shame. De Mille's temple crowd is exactly in* focus. There is a remarkable Tightness about his interpretation of it. A Sorrowful Christ. "One is conscious, throughout the whole spectacle, that one is seeing the traditional, Roman Catholic conception Of a Christ who has .come to earth, primarily to die. Those who like to think of Jesus as the world's master teacher, chiefly con-, cerned with the spread of a new message of hope and joy, the promotion of a victorious idealism, and the development of a broader altruism, are not quit*! content with" so supine and languid a Christ as the abstracted, detached man who dominates the stage in ' The King of Kings. To my mind, the picture is making a valuable contribution indirectly to the cause of a liberal interpretation of the life divine, Thonghful people will be given a chance to see exactly what the worker of miracles, Jesus, is good for, in a needy •world. Persons who have never thought Very deeply about the legend of the coin in the fish's mouth—accepting it, indifferentlv, and with an uninquiring faith in the story—are now given an opportunity to form definite impressions of sr> inexcusable and unaccountable a use of supernormal power. Mr. De Mille gives generous footage to this episode. The resplendent temple authorities come to the carpenter shop to put Jesus on the rack as to his loyalties. Is he m favour of the Roman tax? Jesus smiles; sends Peter to the sea to catch a fish; the fish contains a coin. Bystanding Boldiers hurry to the beach; they cast lines into the water. Their catch is riot so valuable. The audience chupkles at this, as it was meant to do. There is little enough of dramatic relief in the plav. De Mille thought a laugh here would be good for everybody, and so it JS The Earthquake Scene. "A little girl brings her doll to Jesus. The doll has lost a leg, and Jesus can and does fix it. The audience smiles. /It gasps, first, at the glaring impertinence of the episode. then . smiles, and consents that the event is not quite so badly out of line, alter all, with the gospel story. Jesus loved little children. Would he not stop whatever he was doing to mend a broken toy . But, however valid may be the introductions of the incident to show Jesus human concern for other people s happiness, the whole field of the capricious miracles, wherein divine energy is in- - voked lor trivial reasons, demands, a re-survey. The audience senses that need, subconsciously, perhaps, but very " One*' evangelist, out of a possible four, reports an earthquake at the hour of Jesus' death. The earthquake is the most outstanding fact m the. .Hollywood appraisal of the sublime tragedy , Indeed, many a man, when asked how he is impressed by ' Ihe King of Kings, remarks. ' that earthquake was tije most realistic thing I ever saw! ' The publie is stirred by the spectacular ,presentation of the uncanny. Contribution to Christianity. "Persons indisposed* to a painstaking Study -of the gospel story will be better off for having had their interest renewed in the wondrous deeds of Jesus, they have accepted him as a magician, cue who walks on water, changes water into wine, disappears at > Vi ]H passes through closed doors, and feeds two acres of hungry people from a small basket, it is probably beneficial to their faith to see the story dramatised. Per sons who have been uncertain whether the * magician-Jesus ' is quite adequate ' to deal with the baffling problems of these modern times, in which there is so little room for necromancy in the thought of intelligent people, will be encouraged by ' The Kinc of Kings to make a. fresh examination of the essential character of Christ. . " Therefore, from whatever angle one riews it, the plav is worth all it cost, and will be considered, presently, even by the most modern of the liberals, as a valuable contribution t6 ihe cause of a forward-looking Christianity." *