This is a remarkably well-made film. The silent era was already feeling the immanent arrival of sound so it was a gamble for Cecil B. DeMille to release it. It was part of his trilogy of Biblical epics, starting with The Ten Commandments (1923) and ending with The Sign of the Cross (1932).

The story of Jesus, his ministry, his relationships with his disciples, along with his execution and resurrection is well-known. It is told with Bible quotes and a literal cast of thousands. The few color scenes in it were filmed as shown, not colorized later. It was very expensive to shoot in color so DeMille was selective in its use.

I loved scoring this film. Every scene was a choice of going big and epic or small and intimate. I chose traditional orchestral instruments in order to evoke the grandeur one would expect from this story.