One week before Easter, Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St. in Wilton, will present the 1927 silent film “The King of Kings” on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus on Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m.

Jeff Rapsis will provide live accompaniment. Admission is free, although a donation of $10 per person is suggested to defray expenses.

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille and featuring a cast of thousands, “The King of Kings” was designed to push the limits of Hollywood storytelling. DeMille, already famous for over-the-top historical epics such as the original “The Ten Commandments” in 1923, demanded and got a budget of $2 million, which he used to construct massive sets, hire thousands of extras and stage an enormous earthquake at the film’s climax.

The film was considered daring as the first mainstream Hollywood picture to depict the actions and life of Jesus on-screen in great detail. Although the movie’s title cards quote directly from Scripture, “The King of Kings” was not a scholarly depiction of scenes from the Bible. Rather, it was created to emphasize drama and conflict, prompting DeMille to change many aspects of the story as traditionally related in the New Testament Gospels. DeMille also included teams of zebras and other exotic non-native creatures in the film.

Because of this, “The King of Kings” was regarded as blasphemous by some, and proved “as controversial in its day as Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ was in 1988,” film historian Charles Musser wrote. “Although DeMille made his film under the pious supervision of clergy, he managed to titillate audiences with the same heady mixture of sex and moralism that had made earlier films so successful.”

The cast included early Hollywood star H.B. Warner as Jesus. Warner’s later roles included druggist Mr. Gower in Frank Capra’s 1946 Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Peter is portrayed by Ernest Torrence, famous as Captain Hook in the original version of “Peter Pan” in 1924. The role of Judas is acted by Joseph Schildkraut, already a Hollywood veteran who later went on to play Nicodemus in “The Greatest Story Ever Told” in 1965, a much-later Hollywood epic on the same topic.

“The King of Kings” was also noted for technical breakthroughs. It featured state-of-the-art movie lighting techniques, including a glowing halo that surrounded Christ whenever he appears on screen. It was also among the first mainstream Hollywood pictures to use color in several sequences.

To enhance the film’s spiritual underpinnings, during production DeMille arranged for a Catholic Mass to be celebrated each morning before shooting started. In a publicity ploy, DeMille also made his stars enter contracts that prevented them from doing anything “unbiblical” for a five-year period. Prohibited activities included attending ballgames, playing cards, frequenting night clubs, swimming and riding in convertibles.

The sets were so large they simply weren’t torn down, and so wound up appearing in several other pictures. A giant gate was later used in 1933’s “King Kong.” Some of the original sets were finally lit ablaze in 1939 for the burning of Atlanta in “Gone with the Wind.”

For information, call the theater at 603-654-3456.