There were 4 clips and two of them definitely seemed to star Robert Wilson from I Beheld His Glory (1952), but the other two I couldn't quite work out. The question of the identity of the actor/film of the 2nd and 4th clips in this link has bugged me for almost a year.
I'd also heard of a film called the Living Bible, which I'd not really been that interested in and assumed was a 70s tie in with the translation / paraphrase of the same name. Nevertheless, it came up cheap on eBay the other day so I bid for it.
It turns out that what was actually on the discs was something called The Living Christ series, and this was indeed the film used in the spoofs above. It would appear that the 12 half hour episodes started being released individually 1951 as films shown to church youth groups. The films were made by Episcopalian film company "Cathedral Films", and became so successful that they created two film spin offs, I Beheld His Glory in 1952, and Day of Triumph in 1954, although the IMDB lists both films as being 1953.
Day of Triumph is often credited with being the first American Jesus "Talkie", coming 27 years after Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings in 1927. This may now be due a revision depending on how you classify a "film". If it is just moving pictures shot onto celluloid then the first Living Christ episodes deserve that claim. That said Day of Triumph was the first American Jesus film to gain cinema release in the sound era, and was also the first film in that era that was feature length, so I'll leave it to the reader to decide. I am surprised that neither Campbell and Pitts's "The Bible on Film" nor Kinnard & Davis's "Divine Images" seem to mention this series.
Matt
N.B. - This post was back-dated to when much of it was first noted down in a discussion at the Arts and Faith discussion forum
I really loved the living Christ series. It has some awesome character actors of the 1950's that never got the chance they deserved.I Behled His Glory was good (it featured stovk footage form the LCS). Day of Triumph is the best one bar none. Should have had oscar nominations for Lee J.Cobb and James Griffith. I really enjoy this site and I enjoy chatting about films on the life of Christ.
ReplyDeleteHi Blake,
ReplyDeleteOnly just noticed your comment for the first time on my Bible Films Blog. Apologies for not saying hello sooner. Hello. Thanks for popping by. Hope you enjoy the site
Matt Page
I have watched I beheld his glory
ReplyDeleteon www.blip.tv and I think that
is one of the best films ever made
about Christ. I can compare it
with Jesus of Nazareth.There's no
Jesus film that is perfect, and
with this I must speak about the
short shot of the Entry of Jerusalem. I mean: Why is so
short? Why it isn't long like
in The Living Christ series?
Thanks for your comment. I'm not entirely sure why this is so short. FWIW it's one of the more memorable moments in the other Cathedral Films Jesus film - Day of Triumph. From memory I Beheld His Glory is fairly short, so perhaps they felt they had to pass over it to include other material.
ReplyDeleteMatt
Also I saw that the Jesus before Herod
ReplyDeletescene is totaly diferent. And I can sign
freely that "I beheld his glroy" with
"From the manger to the cross" or even
"Last temptation of Christ" are the rare
films with ommited Jesus before Caiaphas
scene.
The Trial before Pilate scene
ReplyDeleteis based on Matthew's Gospel but
with text from John's (John 18:37-
-38]
merçi mon ami j'ai vu ça
ReplyDeleteThanks
ReplyDeleteLes films doesn't speak english??!! GET HIM OUT OF TOWN!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Matt
ReplyDeleteWhere can I get all the 26 episodes DVD. Is the 4 DVD set on amazon.com include all the episodes. Thanks in advance!
Satish
I just bought this series on DVD in a box with two other series put out by Mill Creek Entertainment at Target for $5!
ReplyDeleteHi SAtish
ReplyDeleteThe DVD set I got it in was this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Bible-Collection-DVD-US/dp/B0001OGV12/
which has 10 or so other OT films, a Jesus film series, and an Acts series
as well.
It has 12 half hour episodes, but I think I read that they were originally available as 26 quarter of an hour episodes. I assume that this is largely the same material, but I'm not sure what happened to those last 2 episodes.
It's all a bit hazy in my memory though so apologies if any of that is not quite correct. YOU might also try out the set mentioned above.
Matt
I can't believe you've been writing since 2005. Great first post here.
ReplyDeleteDoes any one know where i can purchase this film "Day of Triumph" on VHS online? I've checked Ebay, and they didn't have it. It's on Amazon, but it was impossibly sold for $999. So, can any one tell me where to watch, download, or purchase (buy) this film? I've never seen this before, and would like to see this. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteComment to appear on post:
ReplyDeleteWhere can i purchase this video? I've never seen this before.
Comment to appear on this section:
ReplyDeleteWhere can i purchase this video?
Can anyone PLEASE tell me where to find this movie "Day of Triumph" to watch or buy online?! PLEASE?! I want to see this SO BAD!!! Can any one like, post it to youtube? 'cause i REALLY, REALLY want to know where to find this movie!
ReplyDeleteI'm not aware of it being available anywhere, but I'd reiterate Jake's request. If it is available anywhere, please let me know!
ReplyDeleteMatt