Review of The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

It's the life of Jesus Christ (Max Von Sydow) from his birth in Bethlehem through his death by crucifixion.

It's a bit ponderous, which is not surprising given that the director, George Stevens, was intent upon creating a religious masterpiece that would be a reference point for all Christians forever-so, not an approach conducive to light entertainment. Being familiar with the story, I enjoyed seeing it enacted and it is a visually stunning film. It was filmed in the Utah desert and many of the shots in the movie are breathtaking. The movie takes the "cast of thousands" approach, including many stars of the day. We see, among the disciples, David McCallum, as Judas Iscariot, Michael Anderson, Jr. as James the Younger and Roddy McDowall as Matthew. Gary Raymond is Peter, one of the most important disciples. He and Paul go on after Jesus' death to essentially bring the Christian religion into being and both end up being martyred for it.

Max Von Sydow is a calm, radiant Jesus and brings great dignity to the part. This is also one of the few movies where I think Charlton Heston is truly convincing in a part. He plays John the Baptist and he seems as crazy as any religious zealot one can imagine. He taunts Herod Antipas (Jose Ferrar) relentlessly. It's no surprise he ends up being imprisoned and murdered. There are also many cameos such as Sidney Potier is Simon of Cyrene and John Wayne as a Roman Centurion. This latter appearance, which was uncredited, is the worst moment in the film. After Jesus has died and there is a lot thunder and lightening accompanying the event, there is a shot of John in his Centurion drag proclaiming, "Truly, he was the Son of Gawd". It is so teeth grindingly jarring you want to throw something at the screen. But otherwise, it's a reasonably decent way to spend, well, a *lot* of time (over three hours).

With this many people in a movie, it isn't easy to stand out, unless you have the main role. Nevertheless, Gary does create a distinctive character for Peter. Specifically, if the disciples were the seven dwarves, he'd be Grumpy. On one of their first nights traveling with Jesus, Peter has his coat stolen. He is beside himself "A thief has stolen my coat!" When Jesus suggests this is not a significant matter, Peter is inconsolable "But it's the only coat I have". Jesus suggests that God will take care of him, as he does the other creatures of Earth. Peter displays his stubborn streak at that point "All I'm saying is, someone took my coat and they were wrong to do it", adding wistfully "Best coat I ever owned". When he asks, "How am I to keep warm?", Jesus offers him his own coat which he refuses with some embarrassment.

Later, while they are preparing for what proves to be The Last Supper, there is a knock on the door and Peter asks "Who is it?" When James the Younger responds "Me", Peter opens the door but is incensed. "What's the matter with you? When I ask who's there why do you answer 'Me'" Yup, he's cranky.

At the Last Supper Peter wants to come with Jesus wherever he is going and asks why he can't. He proclaims that he would die for Jesus but Jesus tells him, that, in fact, Peter will deny him three times before the break of day. Peter insists he would never do so. The disciples then follow Jesus to Gesthemene where they fall asleep ("Could you not watch with me one hour?") Judas betrays Jesus and Jesus is taken away to stand trial for heresy. Sure enough, while hovering about the building where the trial is proceeding, Peter proceeds to deny he knows Jesus three times during the ensuing night, at one point vehemently declaring "Should I know every Gallilean because I am one?" I could not help wondering about this since Peter had seemed so devoted. I did a little research on this and found out that this situation was meant to illustrate that even a good man can act badly at times of stress. But it's still painful to watch.

This movie has three actors I think are gorgeous. When I was 10, David McCallum was the spy of my dreams on The Man from UNCLE. He still looks wonderful at 70 in the new show Navy: CSIS. And I have always been a fan of Roddy McDowall ever since seeing him in Lord Love a Duck in the 1960s. So, it was delightful to see them, along with Gary. Gary has his beard in this one and it looks wonderful on him. There aren't many close shots of him in the film but there is a lovely moment where he is rapt watching Jesus raise Lazarus from the tomb. In his exchange with Jesus at the Last Supper there is a close up of him that is exquisite. Who knew fishermen were this cute?

Photos from "The Greatest Story Ever Told"

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