"THE KING OF KINGS."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19798, 19 November 1927, Page 9 (Supplement)

"THE KING OF KINGS."

VIEWS OF AMERICAN CHURCHMEN " The King of Kings," the picture dealing with the life of Christ produced by Cecil B. De Mille, gave rise to a controversy in the United States before it was released. Many thought that the picture would be something in the nature of sacrilege, but it has been commended by leaders of the various churches in America.

Both the picture and the producer have bean praised by the Rev. Dr. G. Reid Andrews of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. " When the announcement was made that Mr. De Mille would produce a picture dealing with the life of Jesus, Christian people " shuddered," he said, " and when it was announced further that he would introduce the Christ in person, protests were heard right and left. It is safe to say that the coming of tho picture was looked forward to with hope and fear, as no other event in the history of the ecreen.

" It was my privilege to be a part of what was going on behind tho scene and so confident was I of the ability and sincerity of Mr. De Mille, that 1 did not share the general alarm and advised the Christian press and public of America to await calmly the result. The way in which the picture has been received is

illustrated by the action • taken by the Administrative Committee of the Federal CoanciJ of the Churches of Christ in America. For the first time in the history of that body, a motion picture was openly endorsed and the church public urged to patronise it..'' " I regard ' The King of Kings,' as one of the most impressive pictures I ever witnessed," said Rabbi Alexander Lyons, of Brooklyn. 'lt is reverent, instructive and inspiring. I commend it for Jew as well as for Christian It should make the Jew more nobly and proudly Jewish, the Christian more emulous of the character of Jesus. I forecast a great success spiritually and materially for the enter-

prise." Rev. JohD A. Marquis, D.D., head of tho National Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, has expressed himself about the picture as follows: "It is the most profoundly impressive thing I have ever seen in my life. In 1910 I saw tho Passion Plav at Obcrammargau and was deeply moved with its solemnity, revet ence and dramatic impact, but to my mind it did not reach the heights in any of these respects attained by ' The King of Kings.' At the conclusion of the picture most of the people in the audience felt vastly more like prayer than applause."