Cool Jesus Movie!

     Last Sunday I went with some friends to see Cecil B. DeMille's silent "King of Kings" at the Hollywood Theater in Portland, OR.  The movie had a live organ accompaniment.  The organist, Donna Parker, performed using her own original composition.  There was nary a hymn in it and it was great! 
    After the opening scene, which featured a vamp Mary Magdalene sporting with a leopard and being driven in a chariot pulled by zebras, I feared that the rest of the movie might be as campy.  But it was a pretty sober retelling, staying close to the Gospel stories.
     I had to suspend disbelief a bit about the actor playing Jesus, because he looked like a blond version of Abraham Lincoln in Biblical robes.   Otherwise, he played the role as a "Man of Sorrows" well, with teary eyes and rather languid body language.  Peter was a large, hot-headed but good-hearted fellow.  The apostle John was a non-entity.  Judas had a major role throughout, and was a handsome fellow!
     The Virgin Mary was incredibly beautiful, and she was wearing a wimple, rather nun-like.
     It was fun to compare this movie with the later "The Ten Commandments."  Pontius Pilate emoted on a throne similar to the Pharaoh's, and the wicked were swallowed up by the quaking earth at the Crucifixion, just like the unfaithful Israelites are in the later film.
     Another thing about the film which I found pleasing was the respect for Judaism in the film.  Yes, the High Priest was stereotypically Jewish in some ways, but there were large Torah scrolls with Hebrew writing on them displayed prominently in the Temple scenes.  At the beginning of the film the written description said that Palestine was under the brutal rule of the Romans, which is correct but usually not emphasized in Jesus films. 
     At the end, when a glorified Jesus commands that the Gospel is to be spread to all nations, he stands like a giant over cities and also a factory which sports a blast furnace!  I was glad to know that Jesus has a special place in his Sacred Heart for Pittsburgh!
   I am surprised that such a good film about Jesus Christ was not better known.  Part of it has to do, I suppose, with it being a silent and in black and white.  People are missing out on something worthwhile.