The greatest story of all time
The greatest story of all time (original title The Greatest Story Ever Told ) is an American monumental film by George Stevens from 1965 with Max von Sydow in the leading role as Jesus of Nazareth . Supporting roles are cast with José Ferrer , Van Heflin , Charlton Heston , David McCallum , Roddy McDowall and Dorothy McGuire as Maria.
The script is based on Fulton Oursler's and Henry Denker's non-fiction book The greatest story ever told , published in New York in 1949 .
action
The life of Jesus is retold from his birth in the stable in Bethlehem to his crucifixion , resurrection and ascension to heaven . During the rule of Rome over Judea , Jesus was born in poor conditions. Three wise men from the Orient embark on a journey that also leads them to King Herod , as a star has shown them this path that will ultimately lead them to a boy who has just been born. However, Herod is afraid for his power, because a prophet foretold to him that the new king of Israel would be born in Bethlehem. This leads to the fact that he has all newborn boys prophylactically killed by his soldiers. However, Mary and Joseph manage to flee to Egypt with their baby.
Only many years later, after Herod was dead, did Jesus return to his homeland. There he later got to do with the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate . First of all, Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist , who recognizes in him the long-awaited Messiah . Johannes accepts that he will be thrown into prison for his actions. When Jesus meets the devil in the desert , he does everything possible to seduce him, but Jesus remains steadfast. After he has healed Lazarus , he travels through the country, where little by little twelve men crowd around him, who from now on accompany him and call themselves his disciples. Among them is Judas , who will later betray his master. Together with his disciples, Jesus preaches the kingdom of his Father and preaches love and forgiveness, he heals the sick and gives food to the hungry.
Soon the reputation of the special precedes him and the Jewish priesthood also hears and is immediately a thorn in their side. As Passover approaches, Jesus moves into Jerusalem to the cheering of many people , which means that the priests fear more and more for their power and forge a sinister plan. With the help of Pontius Pilate they want to get rid of what they see as the incitator and false messiah, not realizing that with their conspiracy they are laying the foundation for the religion of Christianity.
With the help of the Roman occupation, Jesus is arrested and sentenced to death on the cross. When the people of Jerusalem are given the choice of either pardoning Jesus or the insurgent Barabbas , the people choose Barabbas and want to see Jesus on the cross.
production
Production notes
George Stevens made the film for United Artists . The filming locations were in Arches National Park and Moab , both in the state of Utah in the USA , and the film was also shot in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area around Lake Powell in the US states of Utah and Arizona . The buildings were created by William J. Creber, Richard Day and David S. Hall . Sound engineer was Charles E. Wallace. The screenshots are from Fred M. MacLean , Ray Moyer and Norman Rockett . Diana Wilson, Marjorie Best and Vittorio Nino Novarese provided the costumes . Sam Gordon was responsible for the equipment. The special effects came from Johnny Borgese and Daniel Hays. Ken Darby was the musical director .
At the time of filming, a snowstorm raged in Arizona for the first time in decades, which buried the set under itself. Since this could not be taken into account in the recordings, an armada of snow plows had to be deployed, and shovels, bulldozers , wheelbarrows and butane flame throwers were also used. Immediately after the eviction, it snowed again and even harder, so that a move to the Desilu Productions studios in Hollywood took place. A huge replica of Jerusalem was built there , which further increased the budget. At the time, production costs were $ 20 million. The production scored points with big names such as Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier , John Wayne and many more. In addition to countless cast members, there were also thousands of extras on set. The poet Carl Sandburg was named as a creative consultant .
Film length, background
The film was originally supposed to last over four hours, but was felt to be too long so it was cut. Angela Lansbury reported that her role was actually much larger, but that many of her scenes fell victim to the scissors, so that in the end only a few scenes in which she can be seen in the background and one scene in which she is just now speaks a sentence that is left over. The roles of Shelley Winters and John Wayne were cut together and no longer corresponded to the scope that both had assumed when shooting. In the end, the film had a length of 260 minutes and was initially cut down to 225 minutes. As a result, however, further cuts were made; there is even said to have been a version that only lasted 127 minutes. The original Cinerama version ran for 260 minutes, but was shortened to various lengths over the years, with the shortest version being 141 minutes long. Many different versions have been shown on television. The most popular version of the film is 195 minutes.
The epic work recorded in Ultra Panavision was heavily promoted, including the large star cast as well as the story, which is broad and very universal. The audience apparently didn't like the film much and stayed away from the screenings, which made The Greatest Story Ever Told the biggest financial flop of all time until it was replaced by Heaven's Gate in 1980 . In Hollywood, however, this was seen differently, after all, the film received five Academy Award nominations .
Cinematographer William C. Mellor suffered a heart attack while filming and died on the set. Telly Savalas , who shaved his head for his role as Pontius Pilate, stayed that way for the rest of his life. Joanna Dunham , who played Mary Magdalene, became pregnant during filming, so more busts were taken of her to make the different shots fit together. The 550 Navajos originally hired by Stevens as Roman legionaries had to leave the set early in order to participate in a tribal election. The director replaced them with cadets from the ROTC . David Lean helped out on some scenes on the set. Claude Rains , who played King Herod, was seen in his last film role.
publication
The film premiered in the United States on February 15, 1965 in New York and on February 17, 1965 in Los Angeles. It was published in the United Kingdom on April 9, 1965, in Brazil on May 14, 1965, and in the Federal Republic of Germany on August 5, 1965. It was shown for the first time in 1965 in Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Denmark, Finland and Argentina. It was released in Australia in April 1966, in Uruguay in April 1968 and in Mexico in June 1968. In Greece it was released on DVD in March 2003. It has also been published in Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, the Soviet Union and Turkey. The full English title is also: George Stevens presents The Greatest Story Ever Told .
The film has been released several times on DVD with a German soundtrack and is also available as a Blu-ray version.
Soundtrack
The film is permeated by the music
- Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah by Georg Friedrich Handel and
- Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi . Ken Darby was responsible for the choral music.
- Alfred Newman : The Greatest Story Ever Told - Soundtrack September 2004 on CD released by the Colosseum label under the number VSD (CVS) 6604. The individual tracks can be found on the link.
Voice actor
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus | Max von Sydow | Ernst Wilhelm Borchert |
| Herod Antipas | José Ferrer | Carl Raddatz |
| Bar Amand | Van Heflin | Curt Ackermann |
| John the Baptist | Charlton Heston | Helmo Kindermann |
| Judas Iscariot | David McCallum | Herbert Stass |
| Levi Matthew | Roddy McDowall | Harry Wüstenhagen |
| Maria | Dorothy McGuire | Eva Katharina Schultz |
| Uriah | Sal Mineo | Joachim Ansorge |
| Satan | Donald Pleasence | Hans Hessling |
| Simon of Cyrene | Sidney Poitier | mute |
| Herod | Claude Rains | Robert Klupp |
| Centurion at crucifixion | John Wayne | Arnold Marquis |
| Healed woman | Shelley Winters | Inge Estate |
| Old Aram | Ed Wynn | Walter Bluhm |
| James the Younger | Michael Anderson, Jr. | Wolfgang Draeger |
| Sorak | Victor Buono | Konrad Wagner |
| Caiaphas | Martin Landau | Heinz Dragon |
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Claudia Procula | Angela Lansbury | Gudrun Genest |
| Shemiah | Nehemiah Persoff | Klaus Miedel |
| Simon Peter | Gary Raymond | Helmut Wildt |
| Pontius Pilate | Telly Savalas | Martin Hirthe |
| Nicodemus | Joseph Schildkraut | Paul Wagner |
| Lance bearer + captain | Rodolfo Acosta | Heinz Petruo |
| Commander of Herod | Michael Ansara | Rainer Brandt |
| Andreas | Burt Brinckerhoff | Jürgen Thormann |
| Melchior | Cyril Delevanti | Kurt Waitzmann |
| Joseph | Robert Loggia | Jochen Schröder |
| Joseph of Arimathea | Abraham Sofaer | Eduard Wandrey |
| General Varus | Harold J. Stone | Arnold Marquis |
| Lazarus | Michael Tolan | Lothar Blumhagen |
| Pilate's assistant | Johnny Seven | Gert Günther Hoffmann |
| Thief on the cross | Richard Bakalyan | Michael Chevalier |
| James the Elder | David Sheiner | Heinz Giese |
| Nathanael | Peter Mann | Rolf Schult |
Reviews
When it came out, the film was ruthlessly panned by most critics and was only reluctantly accepted by moviegoers.
Bosley Crowther's criticism of the New York Times was still reasonably good. The critic said that Stevens surrounded the mystical face of the Swedish actor Max von Sydow with a sea of familiar Hollywood faces and thus created the world's largest conglomerate for a biblical film. In the almost four-hour film there is something that is of the highest and most serious beauty. There are scenes in which the greatness of nature is used ingeniously to support the waves of the human spirit and its sublimity and awe. There are glimpses of Herr von Sydow in his role as Jesus Christ, which fill the huge screen and reveal the raptures and torments of a soul. However, there are also annoying excursions into large-screen theatrics, which are extravagant and gross. There are also too many scenes in which Jesus' sermons to his disciples and to the crowd are too long and repetitive so that their monotony becomes boring. Crowther complained about the many cameo roles that would detract from the action, with the appearances of Carroll Baker and John Wayne being the most inappropriate.
The film critic Dennis Schwartz found nothing in the film and wrote that if this was the greatest story ever told, he could imagine how terrible the worst story ever told is. Stevens' epic, religious drama is an unbearably reverent treatment of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The $ 20 million production is long and arduous. Most of the cameo appearances are insignificant and unintentionally funny, while the story remains lifeless and uninspiring. Max von Sydow's good performance is undermined by the poor pace and poor performance of the many superfluous cameos. It seems like almost every Hollywood actor has participated, which makes the film incredibly long.
The film critic Roger Davidson also criticized the many cameo appearances throughout the film as being too distracting. What makes the film relatively good, however, is the great production design, the beautiful score, some good dramatic moments and an excellent performance by Max von Sydow in the lead role.
The United States Bishops' Conference (USCCB) said this was certainly not the best film that has ever been made. However, in his vision of the story of the gospel, Stevens presented a consistent, traditional view of Christ as God incarnated. Despite its epic Hollywood format, the film is played well, it is tastefully and realistically written and beautifully photographed. The most important element of his success, however, is the credible representation of Christ by Max von Sydow.
The television magazine Prisma pointed out that well-known directors had always tried to portray Christ. George Stevens' monumental work conveys "in addition to the life and suffering of Jesus also a picture of the social conditions in Palestine". The game of the Swede Max von Sydow as God's son was described as "thoughtful and reserved". It is “a bit strange”, however, “when a western star like John Wayne as a Roman centurion supervises the crucifixion of Jesus”.
“In contrast to conventional colossal films on the subject, the show effects take a back seat in favor of a more deliberate, well-controlled celebration. Max von Sydow, who interprets the main role in a cautious, thoughtful and sensitive manner, contributes to this. "
"The life of Jesus from his birth to his ascension in an American color film lasting more than three hours, which admittedly sticks to the Gospel reports, but largely makes use of the Biblical film clichés that have already been used several times and which are rightly controversial."
Awards
- Award of the National Board of Review , USA with the NBR Award in the category " Top Ten Films "
- The film received five Oscar nominations in 1966 in the following categories:
- "Best Camera" in a color film ( Loyal Griggs and William C. Mellor )
- "Best Equipment" in a color film ( William J. Creber , Richard Day , David S. Hall , Fred M. MacLean , Ray Moyer and Norman Rockett )
- "Best costumes" in a color film ( Marjorie Best and Vittorio Nino Novarese )
- "Best Visual Effects" ( J. McMillan Johnson )
- "Best Original Music" ( Alfred Newman )
- In 1998 Alfred Newman and Rykodisc were nominated for the International Film Music Critics Award (IFMCA) in the "Best Republication" category.
Web links
- The Greatest Story Ever Told in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Greatest Story Ever Told at Turner Classic Movies (English)
- The greatest story of all time in the online movie database
- The Greatest Story Ever Told 47 film frames, including movie posters
- The Greatest Story Ever Told Original trailer and four video clips adS TCM
- The greatest story of all time on filmposter-archiv.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The greatest story of all time film trailer in the original adS mubi.com
- ↑ a b The greatest story of all time. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ The Greatest Story ever Told Screenplay Info adS TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
- ↑ a b The Greatest Story Ever Told Notes adS TCM (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f Scott McGee: The Greatest Story Ever Told Articles adS TCM (English)
- ↑ a b The Greatest Story Ever Told Trivia adS TCM (English)
- ↑ The Greatest Story Ever Told Alternate Versions adS TCM (English)
- ↑ The greatest story of all time DVD case adS jpc.de
- ^ The Greatest Story Ever Told by Alfred Newman on Soundtrackcollector
- ↑ The greatest story of all time. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on January 3, 2018 .
- ↑ Bosley Crowther : Screen: "The Greatest Story Ever Told": Max von Sydow Stars in Biblical Film In: The New York Times . February 16, 1965 (English). Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- ↑ Dennis Schwartz: The Greatest Story Ever Told adS homepages.sover.net (English). Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- ↑ Roger Davidson: The Greatest Story Ever Told adS dreamagic.com (English). Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- ↑ The Greatest Story Ever Told adS archive.usccb.org/movies (English). Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- ↑ The greatest story of all time. In: prisma.de . Retrieved November 13, 2017 .
- ^ The greatest story of all time adS Evangelischer Presseverband München, Critique No. 317/1965