KING OF KINGS” TOO BIG FOR PETTY CRITICISM

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 236, 24 December 1927, Page 21

KING OF KINGS” TOO BIG FOR PETTY CRITICISM

SYDNEY CLERGYMAN’S PRAISE DE MILLE GOSPEL

I | “Too big a theme for criticism! ” “The King of Kings” is j probably the greatest religious I picture ever made. It is interesting, therefore, to hear the view's of members of the cloth upon it. The Rev. S. H. Cox, the writer of this article, is associate editor of the “N.S.W. Congregationalist.”

It was bound to cornel The life of Jesus Christ on the cinema screen! And so—“ The King o' Kings” has been produced on th< screen.

It is the biggest theme the motion picture industry has ever attempted—and it can never attempt one that is bigger than or as big as this. Other attempts at the 6am e theme may be made, but this alone can be the first for all time. There can be no valid objection to De Mi lie presenting the story oi Christ as he sees it- Augustine, Calvin, Milton, Wesley, all did the same—but we don’t

Cecil De Mille agree with all their points of view. Why should we? We live in a more liberal age. No previous age would have tolerated this screen portrayal of Jesus Christ. It would have seemed sacrilegious then, but now it is an emphasis on reality. De Mille grew up in a home where the Bible was read morning and evening. He knows the “Book/* Hushed Spectators “The King of Kings” is so vast a subject, and is depicted so wonderfully that the sheer beauty and power of the scenes will quickly hush all petty criticism. Where it has been shown already, in the United States of America* thousands have been watched, entering with laughter and gay conversation—and some two hours after coming away again in silence, subdued, thoughtful, and often with faces tearstained. At the private showing in Sydney, the same effect was remarked—and yet, this was a most critical, almost hardened audience, this being up to a certain limit a trade exhibition. Churchmen on the other side of the world have said that this picture will start a revival of religion! Every one of the scenes between Jesus and the “priests and rulers” is so well done that the looker-on is always conscious of the forces that pushed Jesus toward Calvary!