Vintage original 9 x 12 in. US souvenir book from the 1920's Biblical-themed religious drama, THE KING OF KINGS, released in 1927 by Pathé Exchange and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
Consisting of 20 pages, the front cover depicts Jesus (H.B. Warner) with the Little Blind Girl (Muriel McCormac), who has come to Him so he can cure her blindness. The center features a two-page spread with detailed credits from the film and there are beautiful photographs througout. It is in overall fine+ condition.
*"The King of Kings is a 1927 American silent epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It depicts the last weeks of Jesus before his crucifixion and stars H. B. Warner in the lead role. Featuring the opening and resurrection scenes in two-strip Technicolor, the film is the second in DeMille's Biblical trilogy, preceded by The Ten Commandments (1923) and followed by The Sign of the Cross (1932).
A giant gate built for this film was later used in the 1933 film, King Kong, and was among the sets torched for the "burning of Atlanta" secquence in Gone with the Wind (1939). Other sets and costumes were re-used for the 1965 Elvis Presley film, Harum Scarum. The film has two Tecnicolor sequences, the beginning and the resurrection scene, which use the two-strip process invented by Herbert Kalmus.
The King of Kings was the first movie that premiered at the noted Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California on May 18, 1927. The film was screened there again on May 24, 1977, to commemorate the theater's 50th anniversary. In what is considered one of the earliest applications of market segmentation to film promotion, students ranging from elementary to high school were dismissed early to attend afternoon screenings of the film. The King of Kings was seen by around 500 million viewers between its original release in 1927 and the remake in 1961.
The King of Kings received rave reviews from the critics. The Film Daily stated: "There can be said nothing but praise for the reverence and appreciation with which the beautiful story has been developed. . . 'The King of Kings' is tremendous from every standpoint. It is the finest piece of screen craftsmanship ever turned out by DeMille". Photoplay described the film as "Cecil B. DeMille's finest motion picture effort" and thought he took "the most difficult and exalted theme in the world's history—the story of Jesus Christ—and transcribed it intelligently and ably to the screen." Norbert Lusk of Picture Play believed "'The King of Kings' is Cecil B. DeMille'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."
*(source: Wikipedia)
SCIB3