Stars: Charlton Heston, Pat Boone, John Wayne, Carroll Baker, Sidney Poitier, Max Von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, Claude Rains, Jose Ferrer, David McCallum, Donald Pleasence, Roddy McDowall, Gary Raymond, Van Heflin, Sal Mineo, Shelley Winters, Ed Wynn, Telly Savalas, Angela Lansbury, Joseph Schildkraut, Victor Buono, Nehemiah Persoff

Director: George Stevens

Summary: Biblical drama based on the Gospels. The film concentrates on the most familiar episodes of the biblical story, including the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, Herod's decree of the execution of all male children in Judea, and the Holy family's escape into Egypt. It continues as Christ encounters John the Baptist searches for the Twelve Apostles, and raises Lazarus, while John the Baptist is executed. It concludes with Jesus' expulsion of the moneylenders from the temple, the instruction of the Apostles at the Last Supper, Christ's betrayal by Judas, the Passion, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.

George Stevens presents his monumental adaptation of the story of Jesus Christ starring Max von Sydow. The film concentrates on the most familiar episodes of the biblical story, including the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, Herod's (Jose Ferrer) decree of the execution of all male children in Judea, and the Holy family's escape into Egypt. It continues as Christ encounters John the Baptist (Charlton Heston) searches for the Twelve Apostles, and raises Lazarus (Michael Tolan), while John the Baptist is executed. It concludes with Jesus' expulsion of the moneylenders from the temple, the instruction of the Apostles at the Last Supper, Christ's betrayal by Judas (David McCallum), the Passion, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. The product of years of research and planning by Stevens, the film features a huge cast of stars, among whom Von Sydow, McCallum, Dorothy McGuire (Mary), Sidney Poitier (Simon of Cyrene), Claude Rains (Herod the Great), Donald Pleasence (The Devil), Martin Landau (Caiaphas), and Janet Margolin (Mary of Bethany), give fine performances.

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The life of Christ got an excessively long treatment (260 minutes, later trimmed to 195) in The Greatest Story Ever Told, the 1965 film directed by George Stevens. Max von Sydow does beautiful work as Jesus--his spontaneous mourning at discovering his friend Lazarus has died is not like anything in other New Testament epics--and Stevens renders the familiar tale with a handsome authenticity. But the project is nearly undone by an unwise gimmick in which seemingly half of Hollywood's living stars at the time make brief (often very brief) cameo appearances, some of which are ridiculous (who can forget the sight of John Wayne as a Roman Centurion solemnly intoning, "Truly he was the son of Gaaad"?). But there is a lot to like in the film, and Von Sydow's sensitive nobility sticks in the memory. --Tom Keogh

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Original Theatrical Trailer, Interactive Menu, Chapter Selection
Subtitles:	Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese
Year:	1965
Release Date:	March 26, 2007
Runtime:	191 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	1635101009
Keywords:	Story, Greatest, General, Ever, Drama, Biblical, Told
Genre:	Drama