Vie et Passion du Christ

Vie et Passion du Christ
Directed by Lucien Nonguet
Ferdinand Zecca
Starring Madame Moreau (Virgin Mary)
Monsieur Moreau (Joseph)
Distributed by Pathé Frères
Release date(s) May 1903 (France)
26 March 1904 (US)
Running time 44-minute
Country France
Language silent film

Vie et Passion du Christ is a 44-minute French silent film that was produced and released in 1903. As such, it is one of the earliest feature-length narrative films.[1]

The film, with sequences made in the stencil color process Pathéchrome, takes a straightforward approach to its subject matter. All scenes are introduced by an intertitle giving the traditional name of the event (the Annunciation, the Nativity, etc.) followed by the actors playing out the familiar stories from the Gospels. Other than the scene titles, there are no other inter-titles.

In 1932, the film was re-issued in the U.S., distributed on a states-rights basis. Instead of the stencil coloring effect, however, the film was printed on red-tinted stock, with a musical score by James C. Bradford.

Its original French title was La Vie et la passion de Jésus Christ.

See also

References

  1. ^ S. Lubin released a different passion play film in the U.S. in January 1903, running 60 minutes. Some film historians disqualify both as feature films because they were released in multiple parts of one scene each, leaving the exhibitor the option of showing the scenes together.

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