Customer Reviews

The Bible According to Hollywood [VHS]

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What a great idea - an overview of all of the Hollywood biblical epics from the silent era right up to Mel Gibson's latest effort. Informative without being overly serious, the narration is thankfully tongue in cheek at times. It's hard to take some of these films too seriously - so many of them fall into the "so bad they're enjoyable" category. There are plenty of clips - the most fascinating involving those forgotten (and sometimes lost) silent films of the pre-Hays era when audiences got proportionately more sin than salvation. But the bulk of the time is spent, and rightly so, on those magnificent blockbusters of the 1950's when Cecil B DeMille was king (if not a sort of god himself).

The only downside - for me anyway - was how few of the people involved in making these films are interviewed. Presumably because most of them are dead. Some - such as Ramon Navarro and Virginia Mayo - are seen in archive interviews. Jay Robinson talks at length about playing Caligula in The Robe and Demetrius And The Gladiators, but all we see of his portrayal is a few seconds of him throttling Susan Hayward. Even weirder is the recollections of one of the dwarves who tormented Victor Mature in Samson And Delilah. Charlton Heston offers a few eloquent insights. But anecdotes such as Elmer Bernstein describing how DeMille gave him musical guidance on The Ten Commandments or the marvellous Peter Ustinov doing an impression of Mervyn LeRoy talking about Nero for Quo Vadis make you realise how much more background there must be to this story.

But the clips are great and the narration seldom fails to amuse, if not always enlighten ("There were two directors on Sodom And Gomorrah - presumably one directed Sodom while the other did Gomorrah"). And one of the genuine low points of twentieth century film making - Mickey Rooney as the snake in the garden of Eden - is preserved for an unbelieving posterity.

It's a fascinating effort and the two hours fly by much too quickly. I found myself wishing they would make a companion film about all those non-biblical historical epics such as El Cid, The Vikings, Taras Bulba, etc. But, hopefully, with a few more interviews.

I purchased the DVD expecting at least a small measure of critical discussion on why the Biblical epics sustained such popularity over several decades of Hollywood history. Instead the viewer is subjected to tongue and cheek commentary or blanket generalizations as to why this or that film failed at the box office. This is not so much a documentary as merely a string of trailers and short interview clips (these are presented in a mish mash fashion and are often too short to offer any real insight). At one point, during a discussion of the Old Testament, the narrator is commenting on how stories were easily adapted by Hollywood screenwriters because they made for compelling drama. However this narration is accompanied by a shot of Will Durant, the philosopher and historian, who acted as a consultant on Anthony Mann's "Fall of the Roman Empire". This film is not a biblical epic at all and is set in the years of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus in Rome; there is nothing overtly religious about the storyline and Durant was not even the screenwriter. But since some old footage was available the producers decided to throw it into the mix. There is nothing new in the documentary and the producers time and again comment on what is available in terms of footage. If this is not bad enough they are often incorrect with their facts. Anyone really interested in the genre above a superficial treatment should avoid this at all costs.

This documentary's length is two hours, evenly allotted to Old and New Testament-based cinema. It is the initial effort by writer/director/compiler Phillip Dye and a great deal of merit must be accorded him for his choice of clips despite an at times flippantly written narration that is apt to be disconcerting at times to those serious aficionados of film who might prefer a more purposeful approach, one that would provide information rather than banal attempts at humour. By discounting sporadic politically correct commentary that infests the film from its first frame, a viewer will gain increased enjoyment from footage of such as Charlton Heston being interviewed and discussing his experiences while appearing in Biblical epics (The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur), additionally from insightful remarks delivered by narrator Henry Stephens averring that the Bible's essential value to Hollywood springs from its absorbing stories and plotlines, and since these tales are considered to be in the public domain and therefore necessitate no linking royalty payments, studio minions have had no difficulty in locating plot themes within the Good Book that supply those elements that have become Hollywood staples: sex, violence, torture, and murder. As Cecil B. De Mille, in one his segments as interviewee, states: his own Biblically inspired productions provide ample amounts of sin before redemption follows. The first hour-long segment, that concerning the Old Testament, presents filmed fables off Scriptural pages in concert with their sequence as printed (Genesis followed directly by Exodus, etc.). This method results in the filmed excerpts shifting back and forth between silent and sound movie clips but affirms that Biblical epics through the 1960s were traditional in scope. Additionally, interpretations of individual stories from either silent or sound pictures are culturally consistent. Also consistent is the importance by producers placed upon large-scale battles for survival waged between the Forces of Good and of Evil. A chronologic method will not be effective, following the four Gospels, for the second part (New Testament) that consists of productions from those chapters that make up Biblical epics during the 60s (Ben-Hur, The Robe, Quo Vadis,? et al). Later works follow in the survey, such as rock musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, The Life of Brian, Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, and The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson), in addition to a raft of Doomsday films, many only modestly budgeted studio offerings, that nonetheless feature ongoing dualistic conflicts between powers stemming from Heaven and Hell. The earliest work sampled is within the Old Testament section of the compilation, the 1907 version of Ben Hur (here labelled "Wounding of the Procurator"), while many others from the silent era are also represented, from both United States and Italian sources. Striking Betty Blythe, lead of the 1921 Queen of Sheba, is seen through stills only, as no copies of the original print are known to exist. However, silent classics from DeMille (Ten Commandments) and D. W. Griffith (Intolerance, Judith of Bethulia) are seen, in addition to performances by such notable pre-sound period players as Theda Bara, Blanche Sweet, H.B. Warner, and Dolores Costello, followed in turn by ample segments showcasing sound era stars Heston, Victor Mature, Hedy LaMarr, Susan Hayward, Richard Gere, Rita Hayworth, Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, and many others. All of which serve to segue from part I into part II. During that portion, religious transcendence often seems to also include renunciation, but aspects of theology placed aside, there is a goodly amount of cinematic pleasure here to warrant a close watch for film enthusiasts. Highlights include Jay Robinson's insights into the making of The Robe and also its sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators; a plethora of New Testament flavoured pictures from both the silent and sound periods; a clip of Emil Jannings performing as Nero(ne) in the 1925 Quo Vadis?; a revealing comparison between the 1925 and 1959 productions of Ben-Hur; a description of how some major studios were financially rescued by box office receipts from Biblical epics; the pressure placed upon Griffith to replace the Jewish Pharisees with Roman soldiers as those responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; use of these films to hopefully counter inroads made in the West by Soviet Communism during the Cold War; the extreme disparity between opinions of most critics with those of audiences for many of these movies; along with many additional and informative subjects. Included are many filmed interviews with veterans of Biblical epics, such as De Mille, Heston, Francis X. Bushman, Ramón Novarro, Robinson, Stephen Boyd, Virginia Mayo, Peter Ustinov and Arnold Schwarzengger. Viewers may call into question the exactitude of the scripted narration, not solely for the mentioned political correctness, but as well for several inaccurate statements, such as a claim that Victor Mature was selected for his role in The Robe as a result of his popularity following his performance in the Abe Polonsky directed Force of Evil. However, Mature did not play in that John Garfield starring work. The writer is obviously alluding to the Henry Hathaway helmed Kiss of Death. A general impression gathered from all of the footage other than the interviews might be that studios created a surfeit of religious themed films, most having smart surface mechanics camouflaging weak storytelling. If a theme should relegated to the entire documentary, it would probably refer to the clear bowdlerization that is widespread throughout the range of films on view here, yet it is not difficult to overlook this, as nearly each amendment to its Biblical original is graced with first-class production values. Heston, who is interviewed on screen throughout the film, wraps up the affair by stressing that the 1959 Ben-Hur was made for 14.7 million dollars and that it could not possibly be produced at present because its expense would be overmuch greater. He also reminds viewers that many motion pictures are deemed "classics" because they ensured that actors "played great men", and were based upon outstanding "source material". Those viewers who do not weary of watching brief clips from older films will be saddened when this compendium reaches its end. It is surely a treasure trove of cinematic history.

entertaing to see how jewish non-christians see the bible story and spend millions to make their points with the the god of this world. the real truth in each story of the bible is to reveal the true loving god of creation. but even christians dont get it. only study in the scriptures will open the bible accordingly. you will enjoy this dvd its hollywood at its best.