The Greatest Story Ever Told
by David Lean, George Stevens, Jean Negulesco
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, Dorothy McGuire, Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson Jr.Director: David Lean, George Stevens, Jean Negulesco
Brand: Sony
Writer: George Stevens
Writer: Carl Sandburg
Writer: Fulton Oursler
Writer: Henry Denker
Writer: James Lee Barrett
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.55:1
Running Time: 199 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-07-06
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of The Greatest Story Ever Told
Movie Review: One of the greatest versions of the greatest story ever told
Summary: 5 Stars
THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965) Directed by George Stevens, Jean Negulesco and David Lean. Script by George Stevens and Carl Sandburg. Cinematography by Loyal Griggs and William Mellor. Score by Alfred Newman. Produced by George Stevens.
Starring Max Von Sydow (as The Christ Jesus of Nazareth), Donald Pleasence (as Satan) David McCallum (as Judas Iscariot) Claude Rains (as King Herod the Great) Roddy McDowall(as Matthew), Jose Ferrer (as King Herod Antipas) Dorothy McGuire (as The Virgin Mary) Martin Landau (as Caiaphas), Telly Savalas (as Pontius Pilate), Richard Conte (as Barabbas), Michael Anderson, Carroll Baker, Victor Buono, Van Heflin, Angela Lansbury, Pat Boone, Janet Margolin, Sal Mineo, Nehemiah Persoff, Sidney Poitier, Gary Raymond, Joseph Schildkraut, Paul Stewart, Shelley Winters, Ed Wynn, John Abbott, Michael Ansara, Robert Blake, John Considine, John Crawford, Jamie Farr, David Hedison, Mark Lenard, Robert Loggia, Frank DeKova, Russell Johnson, Frank Silvera, Abraham Sofaer, Harold Stone, Richard Bakalyan, Jay C. Flippen, Gil Perkins, Gene Roth, John Wayne and Charlton Heston as John the Baptist.
There are two ways to dramatize the life of the Christ. 1) As a sort of horror/fantasy film with the stress of the supernatural aspects of Jesus of Nazareth. 2) A historical epic with the stress on the historical mileau in which Jesus lived. There are three truly great and definitive versions of this epic story. The silent De Mille film THE KING OF KINGS which is an example of the first creative choice. JESUS OF NAZARETH which is the best example of the later. And this version which, while opting for the supernatural, does so less as a full blooded cross between JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and THE EXORCIST which is a good way to describe the De Mille version and more as a sort of Val Lewton horror and Carl Dreyer's VAMPYR in its extreme subtlness and restraint.
The film has been criticized as being slow and, as per David Lean's involvement, it does sometimes resemble of JESUS OF ARABIA but that is a deliberate creative choice. Stevens is presenting a world whose soul is dead and its people lifeless and without hope. Very few people in the picture speak above whisper. And it is Jesus, who, by his presense and sacrifice who brings salvation and joy to the world once again. Another thing that people either do not or do not want to understand that this is a very Catholic telling of the Christ. The film is very much a dramatization of the Mass. It begins in a Church and ends in a Church. The script is extremely literate and assumes that the viewer is both intelligent and capable of understanding concepts without having them spelled out for them.
The film has been criticized for its massive cast of frequently mere cameos of major stars and that may have been an issue then but is certainly not one now. Who, besides myself, remembers who Pat Boone or Sal Mineo was? The film has been mocked for having John Wayne as a Roman centurian but those criticisms are patently dishonest generated by those who loathe the actor for his politics. Stevens carefully establishes the Romans as being short stocky American types ala Harold Stone and Telly Savalas. Wayne is perfectly consistent with that and I might had that Wayne alters his voice giving it a harsh gravelly tone that jars. The only truly disruptive cameo is actually by Shelley Winters who staggers into frame sqawking in that gang moll floozy voice of hers and is completely out of place. The cast of powerhouse talent give consistently great performances. Sydow as The Christ is truly impressive with a powerful speaking voice. He truly makes the teachings of Christ both intelligible and charasmatic. Rains(whose last picture this was), Ferrer and Pleasance as the villains of the piece are incredibly impressive. Heston,McDowall, Savalas, Buono and Landau are also memorable.
The only qualm is McCallum's Judas not so much of the actor but becomes the film leaves the arch traitor's motivation completely open to interpretation. Useless trivia. Joseph Schildkraut who plays Nicodemus played Judas in the De Mille film.
A brilliant classic film.
Post script. Stevens chose to film this picture in extreme far shots almost completely throughout. Therefore the film is best viewed in the pan and scan version. Unless one has a TV screen the size of the semi truck, one literally cannot make out the performers or even who is speaking. Letter boxheads go on about how, with pan and scan one loses the full picture but in letter box, one loses, with this film at least, the entire cast. It would be nice if this could always be viewed in a movie theater but since that is not the case then it is vital that the VHS version be the one that is watched. You may not see that rock off to the left but you WILL see Max Von Sydow, Claude Rains, Donald Pleasance, Jose
Summary of The Greatest Story Ever Told
"A magnificent film, handled with reverence, artistic appreciation and admirable restraint" (NewYork Daily News), this glorious epic is an inspiring, grand-scale recreation of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, from His humble birth and teachings to His crucifixion and ultimate Resurrection. Lavishly produced at a cost of $20 millionan enormous amount for the timeand honored with five 1965 Academy AwardÂ(r) nominations*, this exceptional motion picture is exquisitely beautiful. Now fully restored to its original theatrical brilliance with intermission and overture, it is truly The Greatest Story Ever Told. *Cinematography (Color), Original Score, Art Direction (Color), Costume Design (Color), Special Visual EffectsSimilar DVD Movies
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