The Greatest Story Ever Told

The whole story, from the nativity through the crucifixion to the resurrection. It runs over three hours and the telling is ceremonial; every scene is composed like a painting. George Stevens directs and produces. Max von Sydow plays Jesus, in his first major American role. The cast is unusually large and unusually familiar: Charlton Heston, Telly Savalas, Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters, José Ferrer and dozens more turn up in short parts. That choice became the most criticised thing about it, because each new face pulls you out of the story. The most discussed of all is John Wayne's single line as a Roman centurion. Stevens shot not in the Holy Land but in the American west, using canyons in Utah and Arizona for the Jordan valley. His reasoning was visual: he wanted the scale of that landscape. It failed badly at the box office and, as one of the most expensive films of its day, cost the studio heavily. Several versions at different lengths went into circulation afterwards. Who it is for: viewers curious about the classical biblical epic and large scale sixties Hollywood. Who it is not for: the pace is extremely slow and the film never attempts dramatic tension anywhere. It asks for patience.