Louis Feuillade directs this retelling of the birth of Christ. It was produced as part of the series "Le Film esthétique" and the director was given lots of freedom in designing the sets and to make the movie a visual experience. The story itself is much like what we are used to and read in the Bible, in 9 scenes inspired by paintings. It starts with the herdsmen, and them finding the Child, and thus skips the Annunciation and scenes of Joseph and Mary traveling and finding shelter. It ends in Egypt. We can also see an inspiration form the sphinx scene, as it looks like the one we find in "The Life And Passion Of Jesus Christ" from 1898. This scene is also remarkably similar to painter Luc Olivier Merson's painting "Le repos pendant la fuite en Egypte" from 1880 for which the production company, Gaumont, was sued for plagiarizing(which Merson lost).

This movie was originally released with the title "Herod and the Newborn King" in the United States.