https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Kings_(1961_film)#ReceptionAt the time of its release, the film received negative reviews from major publications such as Time magazine[5] and New York Times' Bosley Crowther. The latter felt that the movie had "the nature of an illustrated lecture" and was a "peculiarly impersonal film that constructs a great deal of random action around Jesus and does very little to construct a living personality for Him."[6]
However, its reputation has since improved, with such critics as Leonard Maltin giving the film three-and-a-half stars out of four. Musicians such as Grammy Award-winning Art Greenhaw have cited the movie as being an influence in their work and even their favorite film of all time.[7] The film holds a "fresh" 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.[8]
King of Kings is also memorable for the music score by composer Miklós Rózsa, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
and especially:
Most films at the time, except for the 1935 French film Golgotha, did not show Jesus' face, preferring to do shots of his hands (as in Ben-Hur) or over-the-shoulder views. King of Kings was the first large-budget, major-studio sound film in English to actually show Christ's face. Jeffrey Hunter's youthful, matinee idol appearance (although he was 33 when cast) caused some to nickname the film "I Was a Teenage Jesus",[10] a parodic reference to the 1957 horror film I Was a Teenage Werewolf.
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[11]
2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated[12]
I think of Jeffrey Hunter as the messiah of two religions, Christianity, and Star Trek. Star Trek having a cult status that almost qualifies as a religion. It was only by rejecting the offer to do a second Star Trek pilot episode that the leading role went to William Shatner.
