''Judas' Kiss'' (Spanish:''El beso de Judas'') is a 1954 Spanish

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Rafael Gil Rafael Gil (22 May 1913 – 10 July 1986) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. His film ''La guerra de Dios'' (1953) won the Bronze Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1953 and also won best film and best director at the San Sebastián ...

and starring

Rafael Rivelles Rafael Félix Rivelles Guillén (23 December 1898 — 3 December 1971) was a Spanish actor born in El Cabanyal, El Cabañal (El Cabanyal), a small town in the province of Province of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. Son of play actor José Rivelles and ...

Francisco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Raba ...

and

Gérard Tichy Gerard Tichy (also Gérard Tichy, Gerhard Tichi and Gerardo Tichy, 11 March 1920 – 11 April 1992) was a Spanish actor of German descent, who appeared in numerous movies, including several international productions. He was born in Weißenfels ...

.Bentley p.121

Plot

It tells the story of Judas Iscariot (Rafael Rivelles) with the famous kiss of him betraying Jesus to the Romans in exchange for a few coins. The magazines of the time rapturously described the spectacular nature of El beso de Judas, rarely seen before in Spanish cinema, not even in Alba de América, by Juan de Orduña, which in the end had been shot with severe budget cuts. Eighty-two sets, exteriors shot in the Holy Land (Rafael Gil moved there with a film crew in the summer of 1953 and the images would later be used in long shots or on transparencies of the film), a brilliant cast and – above all – An interesting plot idea characterized El beso de Judas: narrating the story of Jesus from the point of view of Judas. The journalist Barreira ended one of his reports by pointing out: "Never was such a gigantic film presented in Spain, a display of presentation as was required in this one, dealing with the exalted theme of the crucifixion of Christ." The idea of telling the drama of Judas (which had already been dealt with in El Judas, directed in 1952 by Ignacio F. Iquino, albeit in the form of the actors of a living Passion that is performed in a town in Catalonia) goes back in the summer of 1952. Escrivá presented the project to United Artists, which received it enthusiastically, guaranteeing optimal distribution in numerous American countries. With this guarantee, no expense was spared when it came to structuring spectacular scenes inspired by the American model of the great Cecil B. De Mille (although the black and white of The Kiss of Judas has aesthetic, and even dramatic, concomitance with the version of the life of Christ that Julien Duvivier had filmed in 1935 with his Golgotha). Enrique Alarcón in artistic direction and Alfredo Fraile in photography, both regular collaborators with Gil, achieved one of their best works in a production that also featured Cristóbal Halffter in the solemn and adjusted music that accompanied the images, and in the montage with José Antonio Rojo, another frequent collaborator of the director whose work is living history of Spanish cinema.

Cast

* Rafael Rivelles as Judas * Francisco Rabal as Quinto Licinio * Gérard Tichy as Poncio Pilato *

Fernando Sancho Fernando Sancho Les (7 January 1916 – 31 July 1990) was a Spanish actor. Biography He was born in Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain on 7 January 1916 and died at Hospital Militar Gómez Ulla in Madrid on 31 July 1990 from a liver failure during o ...

as Padre del condenado * José Nieto as Jesús *

Manuel Monroy Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

as Pedro *

Félix Dafauce Félix Dafauce (13 November 1896 – 5 October 1990) was a Spanish film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1925 and 1987. He was born and died in Madrid, Spain. Selected filmography * ''When the Angels Sleep'' (1947) * ''Dawn of Ame ...

as Misael * Francisco Arenzana as Dimas * Gabriel Alcover * Pedro Anzola * Luis Hurtado *

Mercedes Albert Mercedes may refer to: People * Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name Automobile-related * Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...

Jacinto San Emeterio Jacinto is a Spanish and Portuguese name meaning Hyacinth, which can refer to Saint Hyacinth, a Roman martyr (Hyacinth and Protus), or the Hyacinth flower itself. Common English nicknames for "Jacinto" are "Chinto" and "Jesse". Jacinto has onl ...

as Hombre frente a la cruz *

Santiago Rivero Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

as Hombre frente a la cruz * Tony Hernández *

Ricardo Turia Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugue ...

Manuel Kayser Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * M ...

as Líder multitud * José Villasante as Gestas *

Rafael Bardem Rafael Bardem Solé (10 January 1889 – 6 November 1972) was a Spanish film and stage actor whose career stretched from the 1940s through the 1960s. He was the husband of Matilde Muñoz Sampedro; the father of Juan Antonio Bardem and Pilar Ba ...

as Hombre que prepara cena * Esther Rambal * Ruth Moly * Mercedes Serrano *

José Manuel Martín José Manuel Martín Pérez (born 24 May 1924) is a Spanish retired film and television actor, radio broadcaster, and screenwriter. He was a popular character actor in Spanish cinema during the 1950s and 60s, best remembered for playing villaino ...

Eugenio Domingo Eugenio is an Italian and Spanish masculine given name deriving from the Greek ' Eugene'. The name is Eugénio in Portuguese and Eugênio in Brazilian Portuguese. The name's translated literal meaning is well born, or of noble status. Similar d ...

as Hijo de Acad el leproso *

Germán Cobos Germán Sánchez Hernández-Cobos (7 July 1927 – 12 January 2015) was a prolific Spanish actor in a variety of European films. He was married to Visitación Peralta. He was born on 7 July 1927 in Sevilla. He was known for playing Arturo Torres ...

* Arturo Fernández as Santiago *

Milagros Leal Milagros Leal (2 December 1902 – 2 March 1975) was a Spanish actress. Selected theatrical works * ''La estrella de Justina'' (1925) * ''Mariquilla Terremoto'' (1930). * ''Anacleto se divorcia'' (1932). * ''La propia estimación'' (1941) * ''L ...

as Mujer que da información a Judas

References

Bibliography

* Bentley, Bernard. ''A Companion to Spanish Cinema''. Boydell & Brewer 2008.

External links

* 1954 drama films Spanish drama films 1954 films 1950s Spanish-language films Films directed by Rafael Gil Cifesa films Films shot in Almería Spanish black-and-white films 1950s Spanish films {{1950s-Spain-film-stub