Silents Are Golden: 7 Early “Passion Plays” And Other Religious Silent Films

7 Early “Passion Plays” And Other Religious Silent Films

The Christian tradition of the “Passion Play,”
a stage production depicting scenes from the last days of Jesus Christ, dates
back hundreds of years. Originating in medieval Europe, these carefully staged
spectacles helped educate people about the life and passion of Christ during
the solemn season of Lent.

In the 1890s, lectures with illustrated slides representing scenes from passion plays had been popular for a number of years (marketed for “the Exhibitor who likes Church or Missionary Work”). Films bringing those scenes to life were the next logical step, and a number of filmed passion plays started springing up as early as 1897. Initially, some churches doubted whether the new medium was right for these sacred subjects. But in time it was agreed that cinema was a fresh new way to bring religious stories to the public.

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7. The Horitz Passion Play (1897)

This was the first filmed passion play that
was shown in the U.S., and while several similar films were made that same year
the Horitz version is considered the
most ambitious. It was the creation of the Lumière brothers’ U.S.
representative Charles Smith Hurd, who visited the quaint European village of
Hortiz (located in what is now the Czech Republic) and saw the locals’ passion
play. He met with the actors and asked: would they like to star in a film
version?

The filming was done over several months on location in Horitz. The finished project was an hour and a half long and consisted of lantern slides, music, a lecture and brief filmed scenes ranging from “Adam and Eve running about in a quaint little Garden of Eden” to Christ’s crucifixion. Unfortunately little from the film has survived, but contemporary reviews mentioned it having a “primitive” charm and praised it for its straightforward reverence.

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6. La Vie et la Passion de Jésus-Christ (1898)

Directed
by Louis Lumière and Georges Hatot, La
Vie et la Passion de Jésus-Christ is the earliest filmed passion play that
currently still exists. While a simple film consisting of thirteen brief scenes
starting with the visit of the Magi and ending with the Resurrection, it gives
us a good sense of what these films were like in a time when cinema itself was
very new.

The production is essentially a filmed stage play shot with sets lit by sunlight. Some of the painted backdrops were used for more than one scene, and some scenes were likely inspired by paintings or old medieval traditions. One of the most charming scenes is the “flight into Egypt” with a large Sphinx painted on the backdrop. Some choices are a bit baffling to anyone familiar with the Gospels. During the Last Supper Jesus suddenly appears at the table and surprises the disciples–something which only happens after the Resurrection.

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5. Vie et Passion du Jésus Christ (1907)

This
44-minute French film is not only one of the most well-known and charming
religious silents from the 1900s, but it’s sometimes considered one of the
first feature films. Directed by      Lucien
Nonguet and the creative Ferdinand Zecca, it first debuted in 1903. It was
revised over the next few years until being remade by Zecca in 1907 with
cinematography by Segundo de Chomón .

Consisting
of over 30 reverent scenes, each introduced with a title card, Vie et Passion was beautifully shot and
staged. The tastefully painted backdrops (some with three dimensional elements
like pillars and trees) were designed with care, and color was painted on by
hand one frame at a time. Early special effects such as dissolves and jump cuts
were also used. Surviving in good condition, it’s still an enjoyable watch
today.

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4. From the Manger to the Cross (1912)

This
important early feature is considered by some to be the first five-reel film–in
a time when one- and two-reel films were the norm. It was directed by Sidney
Olcott, who had made a name for himself with the popular Ben-Hur (1907) and a number of Irish-themed films which he made in
the Emerald Isle itself in the early 1910s.

From the Manger to the Cross wasn’t only ambitious in length,
but in its production values. Olcott filmed it on location in the Holy Land and
based the cinematography on a series of popular religious paintings by James
Tissot. While the film might seem a bit stilted today, the acting was more
naturalistic for its time and it had a stronger narrative structure. It was a
huge hit, apparently nabbing the Kalem studio over $1,000,000–a huge leap from
its budget of $35,000!

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3. Intolerance (1916)

This
multi-hour “spectacular” by D.W. Griffith had four parallel storylines, set in
modern times, ancient Babylon, the Huguenot era of France, and Judea during the
life of Christ. Most famed today for its eye-popping Babylon scenes–especially
the immense “Hall of Babylon” set that loomed over Sunset Boulevard for years
afterwards–it’s easy to overlook the Judean scenes, which also had a shorter
share of the run time. Griffith might’ve assumed audiences were already
familiar with the Gospel stories. At any rate, the theme of “intolerance” is
perhaps clearest in his telling of the story of Christ’s passion and death.

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2. I.N.R.I. (1923)

This
film is an unusual one in the pantheon of early religious movies since it was
directed by Robert Wiene–the director of the German Expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).
While not as experimental as Caligari,
it does have some tell-tale dramatic uses of brightly lit figures against dark
backgrounds and its hundreds of extras gave it an epic feel.

It was
filmed in Germany’s Staaken Studios, which was in a former zeppelin hangar.
Actress Asta Nielson played Mary Magdalene, and Werner Krauss of Caligari appeared as Pontius Pilate.
Jesus Christ was played by Ukrainian actor Gregori Chmara. It was the most epic
production made by Wiene, although it unfortunately didn’t make as big a splash
at the box office as he’d hoped.

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1. The King of Kings (1927)

No one
less than Cecil B. DeMille brought the life of Jesus Christ to the big screen
during the late silent era–and it was one of his biggest hits. He took the
responsibility of making a reverent religious film very seriously, even having
Mass said on set before filming.

While
DeMille couldn’t resist adding a bit of kitsch in the early scenes featuring
Mary Magdalene, the elegant cinematography, the sincerity of the production and
the fine performances by his distinguished cast were all much-praised and
helped make The King of Kings a major
box office success.

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–Lea Stans for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Lea’s Silents are Golden articles here.

Lea Stans is a born-and-raised Minnesotan with a degree in English and an obsessive interest in the silent film era (which she largely blames on Buster Keaton). In addition to blogging about her passion at her site Silent-ology, she is a columnist for the Silent Film Quarterly and has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.