By Nancy L. Roberts | Catholic News Service
(CNS photo/courtesy BearManor Media)
The life story of Jesus Christ has fascinated filmmakers for more than 100 years. It’s not surprising that more movies have been made about Jesus than about any other subject, but the variation among these portrayals is stunning.
We see the classic, miracle-performing Son of God in epics such as “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965) with its all-star cast of Max von Sydow as Jesus and Charlton Heston as John the Baptist. This film achieved success as “an intellectual epic that carefully unfolded the power of Jesus’ ministry,” writes the author of “Jesus Christ Movie Star,” Phil Hall.
At the other end of the spectrum is the snarky microbudget satire, “The Divine Mr. J.,” released in 1974. The universally panned film portrays Jesus as “a cigarette-smoking womanizer who consults with an astrologer and gives in to his mother’s demands to turn water into wine for her personal consumption.” The movie only saw a very brief light of day because it featured 10 minutes of the young Bette Midler as the Virgin Mary, Hall notes.
The host of the celebrated podcast, “The Online Movie Show,” Hall has written many books including “The History of Independent Cinema” and “In Search of Lost Films.” His knowledge of film history, especially that of religious films, is nothing short of encyclopedic.
This highly informative and entertaining tour spans both decades and international locales, starting with cinema’s pioneering days in the late 1890s and ending in the 21st century. The book’s strengths include engaging descriptions of events that happened during filming and explanations of film history.
Hall covers a myriad of films. He describes his book as “a culmination of two very different passions in my life: the celebration of all things cinematic and my Christian faith.”
Anyone interested in film history — especially religious cinema — will find the book hard to put down.
— “Jesus Christ Movie Star” by Phil Hall. BearManor Media (Orlando, Florida, 2021). 163 pp., $22.
