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Originally Posted by Squid Lips
Some December titles for you!
The King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with the biggest budget in the history of Hollywood, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and a cinematic bag of tricks that could belong to none other than Hollywood’s greatest showman, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic. Criterion is proud to present one of the best-loved films ever made in a two-disc edition featuring both the 112-minute general release version and the rarely seen 155-minute cut that premiered at the grand opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES: New, restored digital transfers of both versions of The King of Kings: DeMille’s 155-minute roadshow version and his subsequent 112-minute general release
New Dolby Digital 5.1 scores by composers Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version), plus the original score for the 1931 release by Hugo Riesenfeld
Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of The King of Kings
Cast portraits by photographer W.M. Mortensen
Production and costume sketches by renowned artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck
Stills gallery of rare production and publicity photos
Original illustrated program and press book featuring photographs from the film’s gala premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and studio correspondence from DeMille
Original theatrical trailers
Plus: a booklet featuring a 1927 essay by DeMille, an excerpt from Robert S. Birchard’s new book Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood, production notes, and a new essay by film critic Peter Matthews
A simple, haunting phrase whistled off-screen tells us that a young girl will be killed. “Who is the murderer?” pleads a nearby placard as serial killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) closes in on little Elsie Beckmann… In his harrowing masterwork, Fritz Lang merges trenchant social commentary with chilling suspense, creating a panorama of private madness and public hysteria that to this day remains the blueprint for the psychological thriller. The Criterion Collection is proud to present a new restoration of this landmark film.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by German film scholar Eric Rentschler, author of The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife, and Anton Kaes, author of the BFI Film Classics volume on M
Conversation with Fritz Lang, an interview film by William Friedkin
Claude Chabrol’s M le Maudit, a short film inspired by M
Classroom tapes of M editor Paul Falkenberg discussing the film and its history
Interview with Harold Nebenzal, the son of M producer Seymour Nebenzal
A physical history of M
Stills gallery, with behind-the-scenes photos, and production sketches by art director Emil Hasler
New and improved English subtitle translation
Plus: a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Stanley Kauffmann, a 1963 interview with Lang, and the script for a missing scene
The King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with the biggest budget in the history of Hollywood, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and a cinematic bag of tricks that could belong to none other than Hollywood’s greatest showman, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic. Criterion is proud to present one of the best-loved films ever made in a two-disc edition featuring both the 112-minute general release version and the rarely seen 155-minute cut that premiered at the grand opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES: New, restored digital transfers of both versions of The King of Kings: DeMille’s 155-minute roadshow version and his subsequent 112-minute general release
New Dolby Digital 5.1 scores by composers Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version), plus the original score for the 1931 release by Hugo Riesenfeld
Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of The King of Kings
Cast portraits by photographer W.M. Mortensen
Production and costume sketches by renowned artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck
Stills gallery of rare production and publicity photos
Original illustrated program and press book featuring photographs from the film’s gala premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and studio correspondence from DeMille
Original theatrical trailers
Plus: a booklet featuring a 1927 essay by DeMille, an excerpt from Robert S. Birchard’s new book Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood, production notes, and a new essay by film critic Peter Matthews
A simple, haunting phrase whistled off-screen tells us that a young girl will be killed. “Who is the murderer?” pleads a nearby placard as serial killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) closes in on little Elsie Beckmann… In his harrowing masterwork, Fritz Lang merges trenchant social commentary with chilling suspense, creating a panorama of private madness and public hysteria that to this day remains the blueprint for the psychological thriller. The Criterion Collection is proud to present a new restoration of this landmark film.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by German film scholar Eric Rentschler, author of The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife, and Anton Kaes, author of the BFI Film Classics volume on M
Conversation with Fritz Lang, an interview film by William Friedkin
Claude Chabrol’s M le Maudit, a short film inspired by M
Classroom tapes of M editor Paul Falkenberg discussing the film and its history
Interview with Harold Nebenzal, the son of M producer Seymour Nebenzal
A physical history of M
Stills gallery, with behind-the-scenes photos, and production sketches by art director Emil Hasler
New and improved English subtitle translation
Plus: a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Stanley Kauffmann, a 1963 interview with Lang, and the script for a missing scene
