Development The Greatest Story Ever Told originated in 1947 as a U.S. radio series of half-hour episodes, written by
Henry Denker and inspired by the four canonical
Gospels. In 1949, the series was adapted into a novel by
Fulton Oursler, a senior editor at ''
Reader's Digest''. In May 1954,
Darryl F. Zanuck, chairman of
20th Century Fox, acquired the film rights to Oursler's novel for a down payment of $110,000, plus a percentage of the gross. Denker wrote a draft of the script, but the studio did not move the project into production. When Zanuck left the studio in 1956, the project was abandoned. In November 1958, while
George Stevens was filming
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) at 20th Century Fox, he became aware that the studio owned the rights to the Oursler property. Stevens then founded a company, "The Greatest Story Productions", to film the novel. The studio set an initial production budget of $10 million, twice the previous largest figure. That same month, another religious biopic titled
King of Kings (1961) was in development, helmed by producer
Samuel Bronston.
Spyros Skouras, the studio president of 20th Century Fox, had tried and failed to purchase the project from Bronston and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which had agreed to distribute the film. In June 1960, 20th Century Fox resigned from the
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), partly because of the similarity between the two films. In June 1960, Denker sued Fox to reclaim the film rights and for $2.5 million of damages, claiming the studio had failed to release the film before the end of 1959. When Denker and Oursler's estate sold the rights to Fox, Denker had placed a clause in the contract dictating the agreement. In September 1961, 20th Century Fox announced it had "indefinitely postponed" the project. Skouras refused to explain the reasons for canceling the project, but the decision was made after the studio had posted a $13 million loss in the previous year.
Variety also reported that in the wake of the not-yet-released
King of Kings (1961), starring
Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus, several studio board members expressed concern about the eventual production costs. More than $1 million had already been spent on script preparation and there was no established filming date. The studio agreed to hand over the film rights to Stevens, and was contracted to recoup the costs should the film earn $5 million in profits. That same month, four American film studios—including Magna Theatre Corporation—and two in Europe made offers to finance the film. By November 1961, Stevens had moved the project to
United Artists.
Writing Before writing the screenplay, Stevens reviewed 36 different translations of the New Testament and compiled an extensive reference book with various clippings of scripture. Stevens and
David Brown, a Fox executive, considered numerous screenwriters, including
Ray Bradbury,
Reginald Rose,
William Saroyan,
Joel Sayre, and
Ivan Moffat. Stevens then met with Moffat at the
Brown Derby, where Stevens told him his vision for the film would be reverent and universal. Stevens collaborated with him and then with
James Lee Barrett. It was the only time Stevens received screenplay credit for a film he directed. It took two years to write the screenplay. By July 1960,
Carl Sandburg had been hired for completion work on the screenplay. Sandburg remained with the project for the next thirteen months, before returning to his residence in
Flat Rock,
North Carolina. In September 1961, Sandburg told
Variety that he would continue to consult on the project "until George Stevens tells me to stop". The contributions Sandburg made included a brief conversation between Judas Iscariot and Mary Magdalene discussing her use of expensive perfume to
anoint Jesus. He received screen credit for "creative association." Sandburg also had an uncredited appearance as a Roman citizen who glares at Pilate when he gives in to the crowd's demand that he crucify Jesus. By November 1961, Stevens had finished writing the script. Financial excesses grew during pre-production. Stevens commissioned French artist
André Girard to prepare 352 oil paintings of Biblical scenes to use as storyboards. Stevens traveled to the Vatican to see
Pope John XXIII for advice.
Casting as the Centurion. For the role of Jesus, Stevens wanted an actor unknown to international audiences, free of secular and unseemly associations in the mind of the public. In February 1961, Stevens cast Swedish actor
Max von Sydow as Jesus. Von Sydow had never appeared in an English-language film and was best known for his performances in
Ingmar Bergman's dramatic films. Von Sydow said, "I thought with horror of
Cecil B. DeMille and such things as
Samson and Delilah and
The Ten Commandments. But when I saw the script, I decided that the role of Jesus is absolutely not a religious cliché." It was reported that
Elizabeth Taylor would portray
Mary Magdalene, while
Marlon Brando and
Spencer Tracy were considered for the roles of Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate, respectively. Savalas did so, and continued shaving his head for the rest of his life.
The Greatest Story Ever Told features an ensemble of well-known actors, many in brief, sometimes cameo, appearances; these included
Pat Boone,
Carroll Baker,
David McCallum,
Sidney Poitier,
Angela Lansbury,
Jose Ferrer,
Martin Landau,
Ed Wynn, and
John Wayne as a Roman centurion. An urban legend states of Wayne delivering his only spoken line in the film, "Truly this man was the Son of God" three times, none of which worked to Stevens's satisfaction. Stevens advised, "Can you give it a little more awe, Duke?" Wayne then repeated: "Aw, truly this man was the Son of God." In 1984, film critic
Michael Medved and his brother Harry playfully noted: "It is impossible for those watching the film to avoid the merry game of 'Spot the Star', and the road to Calvary in particular comes to resemble the Hollywood Boulevard '
Walk of Fame'."
Filming In late April 1960, Stevens, his son
George Jr., and researcher Tony Van Renterghem spent six weeks scouting potential locations for filming in Europe and the
Middle East. However, in 1965, Stevens told
The New York Times: "Unfortunately some of the landscapes around Jerusalem were exciting, but many had been worn down through the years by erosion and man, invaders and wars, to places of less spectacular aspects." Stevens then decided to film in the United States, explaining: "I wanted to get an effect of grandeur as a background to Christ, and none of the Holy Land areas shape up with the excitement of the American southwest. ... I know that Colorado is not the Jordan, nor is Southern Utah Palestine. But our intention is to romanticize the area, and it can be done better here." Principal photography began on October 29, 1962, at the
Crossing of the Fathers along the
Colorado River. The first sequence shot was the
baptism of Jesus. The
Pyramid Lake in Nevada represented the
Sea of Galilee, and Lake Moab in Utah was used to film the
Sermon on the Mount.
Death Valley in
California was filmed for Jesus's 40-day journey into the wilderness. Sections of the film were also shot at
Lake Powell,
Canyonlands and
Dead Horse Point in
Utah. Although filming was initially scheduled to last 20 weeks, the production fell behind schedule due to several reasons. By December 1962, a severe blizzard near the
Colorado River brought heavy snowfall onto the set. Stevens refused to postpone shooting until the spring and grabbed a shovel to clear the snow, and ordered the cast and crew to do the same. As customary on his previous films, Stevens ordered more than 30 different camera setups and filmed multiple takes of numerous scenes. Charlton Heston, who was portraying John the Baptist, explained, "Stevens would do two or three [takes], but he would devise more different angles from which to cover than you'd think possible. You'd finish a day's work on a scene confident that there was no other possible coverage, yet find yourself there a day or two longer while George explored further ideas." Meanwhile, interior studio filming was shot at the
Desilu Culver Studios for nine weeks from June 6 to July 31, 1963. There, forty-seven sets were constructed to represent Jerusalem. In June 1963, cinematographer
William C. Mellor died of a heart attack during production;
Loyal Griggs, who had won an
Academy Award for his cinematography on Stevens's 1953 Western classic
Shane, was brought in to replace him. By the summer of 1963, Stevens had met with
Arthur B. Krim, the chairman of United Artists, and agreed to allow other directors to direct several sequences so the film would be finished.
Fred Zinnemann contacted
David Lean, asking if he would consider directing
second unit for two sequences. Lean accepted the offer, to which Stevens suggested he direct the Nativity scenes. Lean declined but he decided to direct the scenes with Herod the Great. Lean cast Claude Rains as Herod the Great.
Jean Negulesco instead filmed sequences in the Jerusalem streets and the Nativity scenes. Filming ended on August 1, 1963, where Stevens had shot over six million feet of
Ultra Panavision 70 film. The final production budget had spent nearly $20 million (equivalent to $ million in ) plus additional editing and promotion charges, making it the most expensive film shot in the United States.
Music Alfred Newman, who had previously scored
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), composed the musical score, with the assistance of
Ken Darby, his longtime collaborator and choral director. The protracted scoring process proved to be an unhappy one. Stevens, under pressure from his financers, made extensive late-stage changes to the edited footage. These edits altered the musical continuity and called for significant rewriting and reorchestration. Other composers, including
Fred Steiner and
Hugo Friedhofer, were called in to assist. The post-release editing of the film further disrupted the musical composition. The twin climaxes of Newman's score were his elaborate choral finales to Act 1 (the raising of Lazarus) and Act 2 (the Resurrection of Jesus). Stevens eventually substituted the
Hallelujah Chorus from
George Frideric Handel's
Messiah for both sequences—a choice that was widely ridiculed by critics. The entire experience was recalled by
David Raksin as "the saddest story ever told". ==Release==