The King of Kings Blu-ray

Flicker Alley has announced that it will release on Blu-ray Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927), starring H.B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrence, Joseph Schildkraut, and James Neill. The release is scheduled to arrive on the market on April 15.

Description: A production of unprecedented scale, The King of Kings followed DeMille's 1923 epic The Ten Commandments, employing cutting edge filmmaking techniques to bring the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the screen. Boasting technicolor segments, sophisticated hand coloring process and synchronized sound effects, The King of Kings is an enduring cinematic marvel.

Running 161 minutes, the Roadshow Version of The King of Kings was the very first film to open at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Unlike the wide release version that would open all over the world the following year, the extended 1927 version opens with its own Technicolor sequence, following Jacqueline Logan's Mary Magdalene through an opulent palace celebration that includes a variety of exotic animals.

This deluxe Blu-ray edition is made possible thanks to the dedicated restoration efforts of Blackhawk Films, with the support of Cecilia DeMille Presley.

The King of Kings roadshow version features a new orchestral score (in PCM 2.0 and Dolby 5.1) composed and conducted by Robert Israel, based on the original 1928 Hugo Riesenfeld musical accompaniment. The sound release cut includes the original orchestral Hugo Riesenfeld score, and an organ score by Christian Elliott.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• NEW RESTORATION BY BLACKHAWK FILMS of:
• THE ROADSHOW VERSION / 1927 / Directed by Cecil B. DeMille / 161 minutes / USA
• THE GENERAL RELEASE / 1928 / Directed by Cecil B. DeMille / 115 minutes / USA
• Audio Commentary by Marc Wanamaker (Roadshow Version) - Explore the history and enduring legacy of The King of Kings with historian Marc Wanamaker
• Two Versions for One Film - A short featurette that explains the differences between both included versions of The King of Kings
• The Making of 'The King of Kings' - Twenty minutes of behind the scenes footage from throughout the production with commentary by Marc Wanamaker
• 'The King of Kings' Premieres in Germany - Silent footage from the film's premiere in Germany
• Negative A / Negative B - A short featurette exploring the filming process that led to multiple negatives
• Technicolor - A look into the innovative process behind the film's color sequences
• Hand Coloring Onto the Film - A look at the painstaking process used to colorize individual elements of various scenes
• Pathé Week on Broadway - A promotional cartoon short from 1927 that officially announces the release of The King of Kings
• Extensive Galleries - Behind the scenes stills, concept art, posters, and documentation collected from archives all over the world
• Souvenir Booklet - Featuring an essay on the production by Robert S. Birchard and notes on the restoration and alternate versions by Serge Bromberg
• English SDH Subtitles
• Reversible Cover Artwork
• REGION-FREE