King of Kings

… Since Griffith, spectacle films have been Hollywood's specialty and continue to this day, but its greatest promoter throughout the history of cinema was director Cecil B. DeMille, who earned the title of "master of spectacle" (on the other hand, there was the solitary presence of director Abel Gance, who in France was almost on a roll, aiming for large-scale spectacle films). In the 1920s, spectacle films such as "Wagon Train" (1923), which depicts western pioneers, "The Ten Commandments" (1923), which was based on the Bible, "Ben-Hur" (1926), which depicts the history of ancient Rome, "King of Kings" (1927), which depicts the life of Christ, and "Wings" (1927), which depicts aerial combat in World War I, were made. In the 1930s, the economic depression led to cuts in production costs, and the first half of the decade was a slump, with films such as the sex-and-violence melodrama "Tyrant Nero" (1932), DeMille's pretentious historical spectacle "Cleopatra" (1934), and "Crusade" (1935) merely mucking things up. From the middle of the decade, however, film adaptations of best-selling novels became more popular, with films such as "Adverse" (1936) based on a novel by Harvey Allen, "Lost Horizon" (1937) based on a novel by James Hilton, "The Good Earth" (1937) based on a novel by Pearl Buck, "Gone with the Wind" (1939) based on a novel by Margaret Mitchell, and "The Rains Will Fall" (1939) based on a novel by Louise Bromfield being made.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "King of Kings" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　スペクタクル映画はグリフィス以来，ハリウッドのお家芸になって今日まで続いているが，全映画史を通じてその最大の推進者となったのが〈スペクタクルの巨匠〉の名をほしいままにしたセシル･B.デミル監督である(他方，フランスにはほとんど狂い咲きのように大スペクタクル映画をめざしたアベル･ガンス監督の孤高の存在がある)。1920年代には西部の開拓者たちを描いた《幌馬車》(1923)，聖書に取材したデミル監督《十誡》(1923)，古代ローマの歴史を描いた《ベン･ハー》(1926)，キリストの生涯を描いたデミル監督《キング･オブ･キングス》(1927)，第1次世界大戦における空中戦を描いた《つばさ》(1927)などがスペクタクル映画としてつくられた。30年代には，経済的不況による製作費の削減で前半はふるわず，セックスと暴力のメロドラマ的《暴君ネロ》(1932)，デミル監督の見せかけだけの歴史スペクタクル《クレオパトラ》(1934)，《十字軍》(1935)などでお茶をにごした程度だったが，半ばころからはベストセラー小説の映画化が盛んになり，ハーベイ･アレン原作による《風雲児アドバース》(1936)，ジェームズ･ヒルトン原作《失われた地平線》(1937)，パール･バック原作《大地》(1937)，マーガレット･ミッチェル原作《風と共に去りぬ》(1939)，ルイス･ブロムフィールド原作《雨ぞ降る》(1939)などがつくられた。…

※「《キング・オブ・キングス》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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