The Greatest Story Ever Told

The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

Timing: 3:19 (199 min)

6.389/10
176

6.78/10
636

6.6/10
13000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 28

Actors and characters

Release date

1965-04-09

Country

United States

Production

George Stevens Jr. Productions

Genre

Drama, History

Budget

$20 000 000

Revenue

$15 473 333

Website

Director

George Stevens

Actors

Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson Jr., Carroll Baker, Ina Balin, Victor Buono, Richard Conte, Joanna Dunham, José Ferrer, Van Heflin, Charlton Heston
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

George Stevens, George Stevens Jr.

Operator

William C. Mellor

Composer

Alfred Newman

Artist

Audition

Lynn Stalmaster

Editing

Harold F. Kress, Argyle Nelson Jr., J. Frank O'Neill
All team (33)

• George Stevens was in a great hurry to film the scenes with John the Baptist, which were to be shot in the Glen Canyon area. The construction of the dam was nearing completion there, and filming was delaying the project.
• George Stevens filmed this movie in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah, finding the landscapes there much more – in his own words – majestic than anything that existed in the Middle East. A total of 47 sets were constructed for the film – on location and in the pavilions of Hollywood studios.
• Writing the script took three years. For most of this time, the meticulous George Stevens spent time reading historical works and gospel texts, as well as traveling around Israel.
• Producer and director George Stevens usually spent a whole year editing his films. As a rule, he shot dozens of takes of each scene, varying the camera position from take to take in order to later choose the best option. In this case, the film's premiere was originally planned for Christmas 1964, but although filming was completed at the end of the summer of 1963, the premiere had to be postponed because the editing was not finished on time due to the huge amount of footage. The film was released on Easter in 1965, and ran for 3 hours and 45 minutes, making it one of the longest films in history at the time. It was subsequently re-edited several times, and this particular version has not been seen by audiences since the 1960s.
• Initially, George Stevens hired 550 members of the Navajo tribe from the local reservation to play Roman legionaries, but they soon left the project due to some event of their own and returned home. They were replaced by cadets from the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. People receiving state health assistance from the state of Arizona played the roles of the sick and those seeking healing.
• During filming, the entire set and Jerusalem decorations were covered in snow when Arizona experienced a blizzard for the first time in several decades. Several hundred people – actors and crew members, including producer George Stevens (1904-1975) – came out to clear the snow, armed with shovels, wheelbarrows, bulldozers, and even flamethrowers. As soon as they finished clearing the set, the snow started again – even heavier than before. They had to move to the "Desilu Studios" pavilions in Hollywood.
• George Stevens filmed this movie in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah, finding the landscapes there much more – in his own words – majestic than anything existing in the Middle East. 47 sets were built for the film – on location and in the pavilions of Hollywood studios.