From the Manger to the Cross

It is interesting to note that with all the attention paid to Mel Gibson's PASSION OF THE CHRIST a few years back, this film version was made over 100 years ago (started in 1902 and finished in 1905). THE LIFE AND PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST was produced in France as a series of 31 tableaux and utilizes the famous Pathe' hand stenciled color process. Anyone familiar with the story of Jesus will easily follow it while those who aren't won't have any real difficulty.

There are no gospel quotations here only title cards which preface each segment and some of the most remarkable sketched and painted scenery ever seen which are based on the drawings of Gustave Dore'. The sets and costumes are equally impressive. The performances are not performances but actors striking a series of poses (especially Jesus) which is fitting for a series of tableaux. The condition of the film is truly remarkable. I have never seen a film of this vintage look this good. A remarkable find and a welcome addition to the ever growing list of silent films available on home video.

The second title on this disc, FROM THE MANGER TO THE CROSS, has already been out on VHS as part of Kino's FIRST AMERICAN FEATURES series. It's main asset is that it was filmed on location in the Middle East. Originally made by the Kalem company in 1912 it was reissued and retitled with an overabundance of Biblical quotes by Vitagraph in the late teens.

A sincere and fairly restrained look at the life of Christ (although the Crucifixion scene is quite realistic), it tells its story simply with an animated segment at the very end. While it didn't leave me with a sense of wonder like the first film did, it is likely to have more appeal to those who are just starting out with silent film. It is also of historical significance as one of the earliest surviving American features. Both titles have excellent organ scores by Timothy Howard and are ideal for anyone interested in silent cinema or the life of Jesus. Experience a PASSION that's over a century old and still going strong...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Director Sidney Olcott did not have a stunning career. If anything it was mediocre at best. But on this effort he played above his head, perhaps not even realizing it. "From the Manger to the Cross" is a beautiful film, rich in substance and well acted as well.

The story is well known and Olcott details all of Christ's shining biblical moments in a series of scenes that overcomes many setbacks of the early 1910's. Of particular note is the way he uses a large cast to still convey the emotions present during a particular scene. Christ's admittance to his disciples that his days on earth are numbered come to mind here. On location shooting, no easy task for its day considering the entire thing was done in Egypt and Palestine, would definitely be another.

Even with these tools, the film may have fallen flat were it not for Robert Henderson-Bland's portrayal of Jesus. When the most crucial aspects of the Messiah's personality are the things he said, how can a silent film succeed in showing his substance? Answer: facial expressions and body language. And Bland, without the as yet invented close-up, shines in showing Christ as a man of wisdom, gentleness, and courage. Bland's Jesus is still among the finest to ever grace a screen and we're closing in on a century of film following it. Robert Vignola's Judas also deserves a mention as well.

It also bares mentioning that Timothy Howard's organ score, added in 1994 upon the film's home release, is a beautiful addition. In 1998 "From the Manger to the Cross" was given the highest honor a film can receive: it was added to the National Film Registry, an accolade it well deserves. For now and all time it should be recognized not only as America's first feature film but as a testament to what can be accomplished in the name of art and love when all of the pieces fall into the right place at the right time. Olcott and Henderson-Bland forever have a much deserved home in film history's hall of fame.

The nutshell: required viewing for directing, acting, technological achievement, and artistic beauty...8/10.

Like many early films, it is a document. and to expect more is real strange. because the risk to compare with the films of our times or with the expectations of modern viewer are not reasonable things. it is a film about life and passion of Our Lord. correct, in few aspects admirable, against anachronism or tableaux but the message is clear. convincing. and powerfull. and this is the basic motif for see it. with indulgency. and admiration , because it was easy to make a film in Egypt and Palestina in 1912. so, one of films deserving to see. for discover the early cinema. for the meeting with a well known message in a clear form.

Sidney Olcott's curious life of Christ was staple fare for 50s schoolkids under the guise of the terrible voiceover version distributed by Rev. Brian Hessian - this was the version I first saw and although the quality of the film, all its anachorisms aside, shone through, I didn't think the marriage of modernish narration to silent splendour worked at all.

I later saw a tinted copy on video with a lovely musical accompaniment and was struck by the touching portrayal of Robert Henderson-Bland as Jesus. Some of the camera tricks are justly famous, the boy and the cross probably more so than any other, but this very early feature film is one of the best I have seen so far.

From the Manger to the Cross (1912)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Early Warner Bros. film is the typical telling of Jesus, as the title says, from the manger to the cross. This is a really boring, dull and pointless telling of the story but I guess the studio wanted to make a feature and stretched everything to the limit. The film uses quotes from the New Testament but this gets tiresome very quickly as well. The film was shot on location all around the world and from a historic standpoint, this here is interesting but the rest of the film isn't.

Life and Passion of Christ, The (1903)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent telling of the story of Jesus from his birth up to the resurrection. This early French feature is full of wonderful imagination and the use of color is a real added bonus. The visual are all very nice and the set decoration is among the best I've seen in any silent film of its era. The biggest problem is that the feature runs just over 40-minutes and it seems like a bunch of short films edited together. There's really no consistent storytelling but instead just various segments from the Bible.