The Greatest Story Ever Told Review

Although just about anyone who was anyone in Hollywood agreed to appear in this four-hour adaptation of the life of Christ, it says a lot about the wisdom of US actors that none of the local talent seemed to be prepared to incur the wrath of religious groups and play the big man himself. So they hired Swedish art-house sensation von Sydow for the job, and his somewhat eccentric elocution does lend Jesus a decidedly otherworldly quality. Despite its length, the film hasn't the epic sweep of, say, The Ten Commandments and tends to degenerate into a series of increasingly bizarre walk-ons - Pat Boone? Angela Lansbury? Shelley Winters? David McCallum? - and lots of rather tedious blather. By now every film buff must know the story about Wayne's single awe-ful line as The Centurion, so it really doesn't bear repeating here.