Idea: The King of Kings (1927) Hybrid Cut

I’m not sure if there will be any interest in this but here goes…

I’ve long been of fan of De Mille’s The King of Kings and feel that it is one of his best pictures and one of the best movies made about the life of Christ. With that said I also don’t really think there is a definitive cut of the film. The longer, roadshow version is superior in many ways but the general release saves the Technicolor for the end of the film, which makes the resurrection narrative stand out more. The Criterion DVD for the general release uses the 1931 score for the film’s re-release by Hugo Riesenfeld which I quite like while I find the synth score for the roadshow version rather distracting.

Here’s what I am proposing with this edit.

1. Replace the technicolor opening scene from the roadshow version with the b/w one from the wide release.

2. Re-score the roadshow version with the orchestral score by Hugo Reisenfeld (this may be tricky as the wide release is significantly shorter)

For my source I am planning on using the Criterion DVD as its the best release available to the best of my knowledge.