Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1927)

70 The Screen Photo by Mortensen Until you see "The King of Kings" you will not have seen all that the screen is capable of to-day. THE King of Kings" is Cecil B. De Mille's masterpiece, and is among the greatest of all pictures. It is a sincere and reverent visualization of the last three years in the life of Christ, produced on a scale of tasteful magnificence, finely acted by the scores in it, and possessed of moments of poignant beauty and unapproachable drama. This is a picture that will never become outmoded. Without exception, the subtitles are taken from the Bible, and while many of them have been transferred from their original positions and have been used to punctuate other scenes, the beauty of the phrases, and their dramatic content, is continuously manifest. Also, in order to achieve smooth and flowing continuity, it was necessary to condense some of the biblical episodes. The forty days following the Resurrection, for instance, are concentrated into one scene. Therefore, those who expect to find the Bible scrupulously followed, with no allowance made for the demands of the screen, must be prepared for disappointment. But no one, it seems to me, can find cause to doubt the complete honesty of Mr. De Mille's intent, and the high austerity of the picture that has resulted from a full year of preparation. The story, as it transpires on the screen, begins in the house of Mary of Magdala, who, piqued by the absence of her suitor, Judas, goes in quest of him, incredulous that he should prefer the company of a humble carpenter to her own. The scene of her conversion follows. The manner of introducing Christ into the film will be long remembered. He is first seen through the eyes of a blind child whose sight is being restored. Her growing vision gradually widens and clears, until the haloed head softly fades in. There was finely imaginative direction here. From that point on, the picture moves through the outstanding episodes of the New Testament, reaching a logical climax in the betrayal of Christ, the trial, the crucifixion, and the rending of the earth following Christ's death. It is difficult to judge the acting by familiar standards, for in "The King of Kings" there was an inspiration which lifted the players beyond the limitations of tech The parade of recorded, with By Norbert nique, of individual capacities, and enabled them to move and seem to have their being as incarnate spirits of the original characters, rather than as familiar players assuming important roles. For the same reason it is impossible to single out players for individual mention. Personal feeling for H. B. Warner as The Christ, Dorothy Cumming as Mary the Mother, Jacqueline Logan as The Magdalene, Rudolph Schildkraut as Caiaphas, Victor Varconi as Pontius Pilate, and Joseph Schildkraut as Judas — who are, according to the demands made upon them, the principal players — can be no greater than it is for Mickey Moore as the boy Mark, or for Muriel MacCormac as The Blind Girl. As roles are judged, theirs are small, but they seem no less important to the whole than those characters more closely associated with the crises in the life of Christ. Until you see ''The King of Kings" you will not have seen all that the screen is capable of to-day. A Triumph for Miss del Rio. Count Ilya Tolstoy, son of the great Russian novelist, was on hand to speak a little authentic Russian into the ears of Edwin Carewe when he was filming "Resurrection." The result is a beautiful, faithful film version of that famous novel, with scarcely any falling by the Hollywood wayside. The poignant story of a little peasant girl's love for a glamorous — and amorous — young prince is presented in just the proper emotional key to delight film audiences, and to make them weep. The story depicts the moral weakening of both the leading characters through the course of years, and then, their final regeneration. Too much cannot be said in praise of Dolores del Rio and Rod La Rocque in the leading roles. In the early part of the picture, there is delightful, harmless lovemaking between Prince Dimitri and Katusha, both young and innocent. Later, when the Prince returns to his native village after several years of military life, his lovemaking takes on a more sinister tone, and he is the cause of Katnsha's downfall. Meantime. he gayly marches off to war — a swaggering, frivolous young officer. Seven years later, Katusha has become a hardened young woman. Miss del Rio miraculously achieves this effect with little apparent change in makeup. Seeing her degradation, the Prince, somewhat sobered by time, is frantically repentant, and even follows her to Siberia, to which she has been sentenced. Roles such as these two are an actor's heaven ; they call for the portrayal of almost every emotion. La Rocque, particularly in the later scenes, as a penitent, serious-minded man, is excellent. And Miss del Rio. whose role gives her even greater opportunities than his, emerges as one of our greatest film actresses, beau