The movies get it right. Sometimes.

Ernest Borgnine as the Centurion in Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977).

Hollywood, and the media in general, have a way of taking a story that originates elsewhere and making it into something less-than-desirable that isn't much at all like the original.

For example, Clan of the Cave Bear (1986), the film version of Jean Auel's wonderful novel about the clash of cultures 30,000 years ago during the decline of the Neanderthal and the rise of Cro-Magnon, is a great example of how a terrific book was turned into a mediocre, some say awful, movie by trimming away almost everything to the barest story line, despite the best efforts of the actors, make-up people, wardrobe and photography. I’ve heard the movie versions of Clan of the Cave Bear described as the Cliff’s Notes version of the book.

Sometimes the opposite happens, a bunch of stuff is added not in the original story source and it can just as easily doom the resulting movie.

Or there is the case of in-between, an adapted movie with not enough of something and too much of something else, a complaint sometimes leveled against Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 magnum opus, The Ten Commandments. Personally, I love this movie and take it for what it is, the product of 1950s Hollywood, put forth by one of the great showmen of all time. As Leonard Maltin puts it in his biographical article on DeMille, “[he] was, first and foremost, a showman; he was also a superb storyteller.” That’s why The Ten Commandments works for me. It is pretty darned good storytelling, although the Book of Exodus doesn’t contain nearly as much detail as we see onscreen. The proof is in the pudding: this movie still draws big ratings during its annual telecast.

DeMille is reported to have said, “Give me any two pages of the Bible and I'll give you a picture.” He certainly did that, more than once.

H.B. Warner as Jesus in DeMille's King of Kings (1927).

At the end of the silent era, just before talking pictures swept the industry, DeMille produced and directed what some today consider to be his greatest picture, the silent version of King of Kings. It is also the best example of cinematic embellishment for the purpose of creating a desired effect. As the picture opens, Mary Magdalene, before her conversion, is a zebra-riding harlot embroiled in a torrid affair with Judas Iscariot. (No, I am not making this up).

Despite such wild departures from the Gospels, DeMille's 1927 King of Kings is another masterpiece of its time and place in history, if not an accurate source of Bible lore. H.B. Warner does a masterful job in the role of Jesus, and the scenes depicting His ministry are poetic, beautifully acted, with some scenes photographed in an early Technicolor process that combine to make it as reverent as any film on the subject could be, now or then.

Which brings me to a bowl of movie porridge that is not too hot, not too cold, but just the right amount of Gospel and creative screenwriting.

In case you have missed seeing it, allow me to recommend Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth. It is an absolutely terrific film. Originally a miniseries on NBC, shown two hours a night for three nights at Easter 1977, it has been rerun on network television in the United States several times since then, including once I recall at Christmas. It is today available from almost any DVD retailer in a two-disc set, and at the time of this writing, Amazon offers this for under $20 ( Click here for Amazon link).

The complete version on DVD runs six hours and eighteen minutes, but spread out over a couple of nights, that’s not a lot of time. As a definitive filmed presentation of the life of Christ, it’s worth every second of that 6:18.

From the Annunciation to the Nativity, to the Ministry of Jesus, to the Passion and Resurrection, every aspect of His life gets a close treatment. An all-star cast tops the production quality: Anthony Quinn as Caiphas, Rod Steiger as Pontius Pilate, Christopher Plummer as Herod Antipas, Michael York as John the Baptist, Olivia Hussey as Virgin Mary, James Mason as Joseph of Arimathea, Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus, Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene and James Farentino as Peter, to name only a few. The DVD set is one of my more prized Christmas gifts from 2004.

It is based strictly upon the Gospels and varies only slightly to maintain dramatic continuity. I know, there’s that word, “variation,” for the hallowed “dramatic continuity” thing again.

The difference here is with the artist. While DeMille added for show effect, Franco Zeffirelli simply tells the story, its impact is delivered by its own strength. It helps that Zeffirelli is a master filmmaker, to be sure, but the result is a fascinating, compelling, even riveting film. The viewer's attention is captured and held even when watched non-stop on DVD instead of the original episodic television presentation for which it was created.

As co-screenwriter with Anthony Burgess and Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Zeffirelli created the most beautiful interpretation I could imagine of the story for which this blog is named.

Borgnine and Robert Powell as Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth.

Odd casting, you think? Dutch Engstrom from The Wild Bunch as the Centurion? Yes! You betcha! Despite what you might think, Borgnine is perfect casting; as is Robert Powell, who is just absolutely stunning. Hear it for yourself.

Click here for the audio track to this scene.

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST

Nearly two years ago, on Ash Wednesday (25 Feb) 2004, this movie changed my life. It woke me up, rattled me to my bones, to the very fiber of my soul. I left the theater that night saying to myself, "I didn't realize it was that way. I didn't know. I have to follow Him, become a part of what He was, what He did, what He gave us, I have to know more and be more." In other words, the Holy Spirit called me.

I answered.

Jim Caviezel is Jesus in The Passion of the Christ (2004).

After a 34-year absence, I began attending church again, that very next Sunday, 29 Feb 2004. A day has not gone by since I saw this film that I have not thought about God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, what He told us in Scripture that we are supposed to do with our lives, and how I best can do that. Sometimes it is minute-to-minute, asking myself, "What would Jesus do?" Other times it is almost like God is my autopilot, and I know, in the words of a friend of mine, "I am in tune with the Divine."

The Passion of the Christ is the ultimate example of Hollywood, through one of its most successful alumni, Mel Gibson, getting it right.

Yet so much has been written on this landmark film in the last two years, I am reluctant to try to add more. I am working on a book about this subject, tentatively titled My Journey to the Church of Rome, but until it is closer to being finished, I leave this column to another to describe my feelings about The Passion of the Christ.

I direct you to an exceptional Christian writer and thinker of another tradition, the well known radio commentator James C. Dobson, Ph.D, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family. It so happens what Dr. Dobson wrote about this film in advance of its opening, and his brilliant and scholarly refutation of the wild and baseless charges against it, still mirrors my feelings to this day.

Please read it here.

ALEXANDER SCOURBY UPDATE #3

The Note to Self earlier this week has paid off. Will have in hand, within a few days from now hopefully, 41 episodes of the ABC radio network program The Greatest Story Ever Told , which ran from 1947 through 1956, and in which Alexander Scourby appeared as Joseph of Nazareth.

Or so the story goes. We’ll see.

In the meantime, here are program details, courtesy of Jerry's Vintage Radio Logs.

Have seen it elsewhere, but no mention here of Alexander Scourby in the cast. Then--it's early. We've only just started looking.

"THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD" ABC GOODYEAR Sundays 6:30 - 7:00 pm

Based on the book of the same name by Fulton Oursler, dramatizes events and stories in the Bible as told by Jesus Christ.

STARS: Warren Parker as Jesus Christ DIRECTOR: Mark Loeb ASST.: Leonard Blair SCRIPTS: Henry Denker MUSIC: William Stoess composed and directed the orchestra and Chorus

In today's entry, the picture at the top of the column of Ernest Borgnine as the Centurion and the audio track from Jesus of Nazareth are courtesy of the Excerpts of INRI Web site.