In the 1950s, Hollywood was in love with making religious epics. The films made money and all sorts of salacious material could be mixed in...all in the name of Christianity! It was much worse in the 1940s, when the films were often much more sexual and inappropriate. Instead, in the 50s the sex was a bit more implied and the dialog a bit goofier. For every excellent religious film from Hollywood, such as "Ben Hur" or "Demetrius and the Gladiators" there were some really awful films like "Solomon and Sheba" or "David and Bathsheba". Perhaps it's because the prior films were not based on Biblical stories but were more about Biblical times--- so staying faithful to the Bible was not a serious issue. With the latter two films, however, there just isn't much in the Bible about these folks. "Solomon and Sheba" was based on just a few verses and "David and Bathsheba" only a small portion of one book. So, to make up for this, the writers took creative liberty with the stories-- embellishing them wildly and giving them some laughably bad and stilted dialog. As for "David and Bathsheba" it's also burdened by ridiculous casting. After all, Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward?!?! Yup...there sure must have been a lot of extremely well coiffed red-heads back in the times of King David!!So what does the film have going for it? Well, it's in color and the print looked really nice.

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.

This film has all the size and grandeur of many of the great biblical epics of the 1950's and '60's. But it is also perhaps the first that really humanizes the biblical characters themselves. This is a unique and compelling balance that helps us to realize that even great figures like King David are flawed people who can find their faith and greatness in facing these very flaws.The actors are all first rate in the film from Gilbert Barnett as David's second son Absolom through to the wonderful Susan Hayward as Bathsheba. Hayward is at her best in this film. Her own larger than life but very truthful style of acting is quite at home on the TV screen as it was when first seen on the wide cinimascope screens of the 1950's. She is the seductress of the piece, but she plays the role in such a way that you sympathize with her.Raymond Massey does a great job as Nathan the prophet. As a child when I first saw the film, Massey seemed like he truly had just conversed with the Lord himself and was an awesome sight. No doubt helped also by the great music composed by the always amazing Alfred Newman who also had great successes in other biblical epics like "The Robe" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told" along with perhaps 100 other films too! The cinema photography by Leon Shamroy is well done and adds to the size but also the intimacy of the film. Henry King, a truly underrated film director who like William Wyler never really pigeon-holed himself into any one genre, pulls together a larger than life production that never loses sight of the love story between David and Bathsheba and David's own deep struggle with his faith in God. The path tread in this film could have been very hokey, but King keeps it real and interesting all the way. Plus we never lose the sense of mystery about trying to understand the will of God, just as David himself is struggling with the same. From the first scene where a soldier dies trying to save the ark from destruction. David is not satisfied with Nathan's answer, (to paraphrase)that no one can understand the will of God. This is the journey we embark on right through to the powerful ending where David is finally confronted with himself.Finally this film belongs to Gregory Peck who is wonderful as King David. His David is a man you can believe could rule a country as King and Warrior but who was also at one time a gentle and faithful singer of psalms. This is one of his best performances.I don't see this movie on television much anymore, but when I do I never fail to watch it. I think it still holds up very well today.

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.