David and Bathsheba

Nothing to complain about here: one of the big Hollywood Biblical films of the 1950s, featuring grand sets, grand passions and even grander actors. This one's all about King David, as played by Gregory Peck (one of my favourites), and his affair with Bathsheba (the alluring Susan Hayward).

Of course, it wouldn't be an epic without some action, and most of it appears in flashback form here (including the classic David and Goliath sequence, without which any story of David wouldn't be complete!). The emotions are torrid and the acting strong, with Peck particularly on good form playing a complex guy it would be easy to hate in the wrong hands.

Much of the film is talky but it held my attention at all times and I didn't feel it dragged at all. The solemn sequences towards the end, involving the Ark of the Covenant, are particularly engaging, finishing up what has been a strong and well-acted story throughout.

I've always believed that David and Bathsheba was a film originally intended for Tyrone Power at 20th Century Fox, although Gregory Peck does give a good account of himself as King David, the monarch with a wandering eye.

A whole lot of biblical subjects get covered in this film, adultery, redemption, sin, punishment and generally what God expects from his followers.

When you're a king, even king in a biblically prophesied kingdom you certainly do have a lot of prerogatives not open to the rest of us. King David has many wives, including one really vicious one in Jayne Meadows who was the daughter of Saul, David's predecessor. But his eyes catch sight of Bathsheba out in her garden one evening. Turns out she's as unhappily married to Uriah the Hittite as David is to quite a few women. Uriah is one of David's army captains. David sends for Bathsheba and him being the King, she comes a runnin' because she's had her eye on him too.

What happens, an affair, a pregnancy, and a carefully arranged death for Uriah in a battle. But an all seeing and knowing Deity has caught all of this and is not only punishing David and Bathsheba, but the entire Kingdom of Israel is being punished with drought, disease, and pestilence.

The sexist law of the day calls for Bathsheba to have a stoning death. David shows weakness in his previous actions, but here he steps up to the plate and asks that the whole thing be put on him. He even lays hands on the Ark of the Covenant which was an instant death as seen in the film.

My interpretation of it is that God admires guts even if you're wrong and he lets up on David and forgives them both. Bathsheba becomes the mother of Solomon and she and David are the ancestors of several successors in the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah until they're both conquered.

Susan Hayward is a fetching Bathsheba caught in a loveless marriage with Uriah played by Kieron Moore. The only thing that gets Moore aroused is a good battle. I liked Kieron Moore's performance as a brave and rather stupid horse's rear.

No one can lay the law down like Raymond Massey. His Nathan the Prophet is in keeping with the John Brown character he played in two films, same intensity.

So when His own law called for death, why did God spare Bathsheba and keep David on the throne. Maybe it was the fact He just didn't want to train a third guy for the job. He'd replaced Saul with David already.

But I think the Christian interpretation might be that this was a hint of the New Testament forthcoming, that one might sin and receive mercy if one asks for it penitently. I'll leave it to the biblical scholars to submit interpretations.

Watch the film and you might come up with an entirely new theory.

...Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you.. (Leonard Cohen,"Hallelujah")

"David and Bathsheba" may be a slow-moving movie,but it is faithful to the Bible,which many others works are not ("Samson and Delilah" ,"Salome" or "Salomon and Sheba" ).Most of the plot comes from Samuel,2: 11-12.The problem is that the story was too short and flashbacks were included (Death of Saul,Goliath -the worst scene in the whole movie- (Samuel,1:17).It was a good idea to have David say to Bathsheba "Goliath? He grows a little bit every year" :with the appearance of the giant,the sentence loses all its meaning .

Gregory Peck is certainly a better David than Richard Gere in the eighties version where Bathsheba was no more than an extra.Susan Hayward is gorgeous but ,maybe because it was the Holy Writ,it's difficult to admit that these people are eaten with desire .

Unlike the classic biblical masterpieces of Technicolor days, "The Ten Commandments", "Samson and Delilah", "Sodom and Gomorrah", etc, this biblical film is not about the power and wrath of God. Instead, it's a very intimate story of a man's fall from grace and how he tries to find it again.

While it can be approached literally as the story of King David's sins which brought drought, death and pestilence upon Israel, it is truly a secular story of a man who has lost his boyhood innocence. The power of the film rests in Gregory Peck's hypnotizing performance toward the end when, having hit rock bottom, he must answer for his life.

Whatever religion you subscribe to, or none at all, this is such a powerful human theme because inevitably we all lose our way. Peck plays King David as a sort of religious skeptic, always investigating the scientific explanation behind supposedly supernatural events. And that diffuses the "biblical" aspect of the film so that we may enjoy it on any level.

ABOUT THE PLOT... If you've studied the Bible, then you probably know the story and how it turns out. But if you're totally ignorant of the tale like I was, then I guarantee you'll have a great time. The suspense of not knowing how this volatile situation will play out is breathtaking. With that in mind, I won't say a thing about the plot, and I suggest you avoid any discussion of it. All you need to know is it's about 2 people named David and Bathsheba.

About acting, technique and music. Very nice with only 1 minor complaint. In keeping with the times (1951) this can be a melodramatic film, and by that I point the finger at the music. Certain powerful, dramatic scenes are made a little syrupy with the characteristic lush Hollywood symphonic music of the Technicolor age. However, there are a few amazing scenes where Gregory Peck delivers his monologues in absolute silence, with a tight, stationary camera on his face, and those are the aforementioned scenes that are so strong they'll bring a tear to your eye.

Directed by Henry King who, despite his masterpieces, never won an academy award in his 50 year career, "David and Bathsheba" is so impressive it makes me want to immediately run to the video store and check out his other films, particularly those he made with his favorite leading man Gregory Peck ("Twelve O'Clock High", "Snows of Kilimanjaro", etc). Susan Hayward did a great job, too. But this is really Peck's film, and King wasn't shy about using Peck to the fullest. Don't hesitate to see this film if you ever get the chance.

David and Bathsheba is a lavish Hollywood Biblical picture produced out of 20th Century Fox by Darryl F. Zanuck, directed by Henry King and starring Gregory Peck {King David}, Susan Hayward (Bathsheba), Raymond Massey (Nathan), Kieron Moore (Uriah) and Jayne Meadows (Michal).

The film is based around the second Old Testament book of Samuel from the Holy Bible. It follows King David, who as a child had slain the giant Goliath, and now we find him in adulthood as the second King of Israel. A tough and assured King, David however has affairs of the heart causing great problems. For once he spies Bathsheba taking a shower {re;bath}, it 's the start of a journey encompassing adultery and betrayal; a journey that will end in the judgement of God being called upon.

Typically for the genre, David & Bathsheba is a large, grandiose production. From its excellent set designs to it's positively gorgeous Technicolor photography {Leon Shamroy}, it has enough quality to warrant sitting along side the best the genre has to offer as regards production values. Untypically, tho, the film is sedately paced and relies on 99% of its worth being driven purely by dialogue. This is not one for action fans or anyone who needs some swash to go with their buckle. This is a very humanist picture, in fact lets not beat around the burning bush here, it's a Biblical love story flecked with sins of the heart. But that is no bad thing at all, because breaking it down we find it's very well acted {Peck has a stoic yet vulnerable thing going on real well & Hayward is pushing it to the max}, and it be a fine story directed with knowing skill by the often forgotten Henry King. And although some of the dialogue is admittedly cringe inducing, the character flow is never interrupted as Phillip Dunne's (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) Oscar nominated screenplay holds the attention throughout.

Sometimes a forgotten picture in terms of the Biblical/Swords & Sandals genres (most likely because it is a talky piece that has heart as its main selling point), but really it's well worth the time of anyone interested in the most lavish of genres. 7/10