The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

I am not a religious person, yet I absolute enjoy biblical epics.  There are two primary reasons for this:

1)      Nostalgia. I grew up in a Christian home and watching The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur was an Easter tradition in my family. The Ten Commandments had far greater appeal for me as a kid, because it was the more colorful of the two movies. 

2)      Spectacle.  Biblical epics are rarely great pieces of art, in fact, for all their moralizing they tend to be a bit hollow. The really appeal in these films in this the spectacle on display; the exotic locations, huge sets, big casts, and, most important of all, the larger than life characters. Biblical epics are essentially super hero movies set ancient times; the only difference is that instead of taking on colorful super heroes, the protagonists in these films are often pitted against tyrannical rulers.  In The Ten Commandments, it was Moses vs. Rameses. In Ben-Hur, it was Judah Ben-Hur  vs. the Roman Massala. And in The Greatest Story Ever Told, it is Jesus vs. well just about everyone.  

The Greatest Story Ever Told was not the first movie to chronicle the life of Christ, Cecil B. DeMille directed The King of Kings in 1927, nor is it even the best, Franco Zeffirelli’s mini-series Jesus of Nazareth and the DeMille movie are vastly superior, but it is arguably the most compelling movie out of the bunch, largely due to all the talent both in front and behind the camera.  It was directed by a top flight filmmaker in George Stevens, who had helmed such classics like Gunga Din, A Place in the Sun, Giant, and The Diary of Anne Frank. It was Stevens goal to create the definitive version of the life of Jesus by doing it in a straight forward manner; earlier adaptations were usually laden with unnecessary subplots (Nicholas Ray’s King of Kings), or Jesus was usually a supporting character and the film revolved around how he affected a change in the main character (Ben-Hur, The Robe).  The DeMille film, as entertaining as it is, surprisingly omits some of the more memorable aspects of the Christ story line; it glosses over the virgin birth, there is no nativity scene, and the character of John the Baptist is nowhere to be found.  Stevens wanted to make his adaptation as authentic as possible; he drew his main inspiration from the scriptures themselves. 

The greatest strength of the earlier adaptations was their ability to condense the gospels into a cohesive narrative; unfortunately, this does not apply to The Greatest Story Ever Told. It is often a very muddled and, for what was a very personal project, aloof in its presentation.  It’s a beautiful movie to look at (not surprising since Stevens began his career as a cameraman), but it’s an extremely overpopulated film, the film is often too busy playing “spot the star” that, as a result, many crucial characterizations suffer because they are giving no room to breathe.  This is the biggest criticism that is leveled against The Greatest Story Ever Told; it’s all star cast often has the effect of negating an entire scene. Take the crucifixion scene:  Stevens effectively depicts the darkest moment in Jesus (and humankind’s) life by very subtly turning the sky dark; the scene is done one long take. What should be very sad moment and touching moment is, instead, reduced to unintended comedy, when you a hear John Wayne’s voice (he plays a Roman Centurion) drawl on the soundtrack, “Truly this man was the son of God.”  It completely takes you out of the scene and undermines the mood that Stevens so effectively capture on film. 

This is problem that plagues the entire film, because a lot of the big name actors don’t really have a role to play, they are just there to be seen.  On other hand, some of the stunt casting is surprisingly effective, especially Charlton Heston as the prophet, John the Baptist. At this point in his career, Heston had already played Moses and, even though he won an Oscar for Ben-Hur, it was (and still is) his most signature role, and it’s clear that Stevens had this in mind when he cast Heston in the role of John the Baptist. While Heston is, technically, playing the role the John the Baptist, we as an audience see it mores as Moses handing the reins over to Jesus (Max von Sydow). It’s a scene that plays on the audience’s familiarity with Heston’s earlier films and it works extraordinarily well. 

Other performance that I like: Donald Pleasance is sufficiently creepy as Satan.  Sal Mineo is extremely convincing as Uriah, the cripple that Jesus heals.  Joseph Schildkraut brings a lot of warmth to the character of Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin that is sympathetic to Jesus’ cause. Interestingly enough, Schildkraut played Judas in DeMille’s The King of Kings. He was effectively slimy in that film, while in The Greatest Story Ever Told, he is beacon of kindness. Gary Raymond is fairly effective as Peter, especially in the scene in which he denies Christ three times before the “cock crows.”  Best of all is Jose Ferrer as the decadent rule Herod Antipas, the man who has John the Baptist beheaded. The acting, overall, is fairly efficient; the main problem is that a lot of performances get lost in the shuffle.  For example, Roddy McDowall is a good actor, but he’s absolutely wasted in the role of the Matthew. He makes a pretty strong impression in his first scene and then is promptly forgotten about. David McCallum is miscast as Judas, but  give it his all. The problem is that film never really offers a convincing explanation as to why Judas would betray Jesus; it happens in a blink of an eye. Dorothy McGuire is a good actress, but she’s a poor choice for the role of the Virgin Mary. She certainly isn’t helped by the script; she has practically no dialogue and is relegated to a piece of scenery. Stevens could have easily replaced her with a wax sculpture and no one would be any the wiser.

Max von Sydow was certainly an odd choice to play the role of Jesus, but he is pretty effective in the role, though his Jesus is often a very distant character; lacking the warmth that H.B. Warner and Robert Powell managed to bring to the role.  His most effective moment is when he sheds a tear after he is confronted by Martha, the sister of Lazarus. Lazarus has just died and Martha wonders how Jesus could be neglectful towards a friend, while jumping to the aid of complete strangers. It’s one of the few affecting moments in the film; Jesus is at a complete loss for words, sheds a tear, and then proceeds to resurrect Lazarus. 

As spectacle The Greatest Story Ever Told in, indeed, a sight to behold. Its visuals are beautiful to look at and even awe-inspiring at times.  My favorite scene being: the camera gives us a bird’s eye view of Jerusalem and then, through a series of dissolves, tracks over to a remote spot in the desert where John the Baptist is baptizing new converts, while preaching the word of God.  It’s an extremely effective transition and offers up a nice way to introduce a new character to the story. The other moment that stands out is the resurrection of Lazarus; Stevens doesn't actually show the resurrection itself, but rather focuses on the witnesses to the event and how it affects them.  We are shown close ups of different spectators, then three of them (Uriah, Old Aram, and Bar Amand) take off to inform the people of the miracle that had just witnessed.

Yet, as effective as The Greatest Story Ever Told is as spectacle, it is absolutely falls flat in the dramatic department. It is, surprisingly, uninvolving at times, especially in the first half hour. The problem I have with the film is that there really is no character the audience can empathize with; the characters of Mary and Joseph are so poorly defined that it’s really hard to care about their plight. Stevens is banking on the audience’s familiarity with the Gospels and is hoping they will fill in the blanks, essentially he is saying, “To hell with character development.”  The film tells us very little about the actual characters, but we’re supposed to care about them because the Bible tells us so.  It’s interesting to compare The Greatest Story Ever Told to the much superior Jesus of Nazareth; they are similar in a few respects, both are directed by acclaimed filmmakers and feature an all star cast, but the latter is a much more moving experience (despite its six hour length), because Franco Zeffirelli actually takes the time to develop the characters. The first hour of the movie is devoted to the characters of Joseph and Mary. The audience genuinely fears for their safety, because the film has given us their back story.  Plus, it also helps that Yorgo Voyagis gives a likable and compassionate performance as Joseph.  Robert Loggia, on the other hand, mutters a few lines and then disappears from the movie.

This is the extent of Robert Loggia's performance. 

George Stevens, very curiously, uses very little closes up in the entire movie; almost everything is done in long shots and extended takes. This works extremely well in crowd scenes, like in the crucifixion and the Last Supper, but becomes a hindrance during smaller, more dramatic scenes that are cluttered with dialogue. It’s often hard to make out who is doing the talking. For instance, the scene in which Jesus heals a leper woman (Shelley Winters) is an epic failure, because:

1)      We have no idea who the woman is until she proclaims, “I’m cured!”  There’s nothing to distinguish her from the rest of the crowd, Jesus just happens to bump into her and the next thing you know she is praising him aloud.

2)      Jesus’ reaction to the miracle is one of complete indifference. He tells the lady that her faith has cured and the goes on his way.

The Greatest Story Ever Told should be the kind of film that elicits tears and applause from the audience, instead we kind of just shrug our shoulders and say, “That was okay.”  The Greatest Ever Told is on par with sitting in the nose bleeds seats of heavily hyped sporting event. At first you are revved to be there, but very soon boredom settles in because you can't tell what is going on in the game. Occasionally something exciting will happen, but then the doldrums set back in. It's not a complete waste of your time, but given the talent involved, it should have been phenomenal.  

Credits

Cast: Max von Sydow (Jesus), Charlton Heston (John the Baptist), Dorothy McGuire (The Virgin Mary), Jose Ferrer (Herod Antipas), Gary Raymond (Peter),  David McCallum (Judas), Martin Landau (Caiaphas), Telly Savalas (Pontius Pilate), Sal Mineo (Uriah), Joanna Dunham (Mary Magdalene), Victor Buono (Sarak), Donald Pleasance (The Dark Hermit-Satan), Ina Balin (Martha of Bethany), Janet Margolin (Mary of Bethany), Michael Tolan (Lazarus), Michael Anderson, Jr. (James the Younger), Joseph Schildkraut (Nicodemus), Van Heflin (Bar Amand), Ed Wynn (Old Aram), Claude Rains (King Herod),Robert Loggia (Joseph), John Considine (John), Roddy McDowall (Matthew), Sidney Poitier (Simon of Cyrene), Angela Lansbury (Claudia),  Abraham Sofaer (Joseph of Arimathaea), Robert Blake (Simon the zealot), Jamie Farr (Thaddeus), Paul Stewart (Questor), John Wayne (Roman at crucifixion), Shelley Winters (Woman who is healed), Nehemiah Persoff (Shemiah), Carroll Baker (Veronica), Richard Conte (Barrabas), Pat Boone (Angel at tomb), Russell Johnson (Scribe), Frank Silvera (Caspar).

Director: George Stevens
Screenplay: James Lee Barrett, George Stevens, Carl Sandburg (uncredited).
Running Time:  199 min.