Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (1973)

Director:

David Greene

Writers:

David Greene (screenplay) and
John-Michael Tebelak (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 August 1973 (Denmark)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

Godspell comes to the screen !

Plot:

An adaption of the musical, in a modern-day song-and-dance recreation of the Gospel of St. Matthew.

Plot Keywords:

Bible | Hippie | Christianity | Reference To Mae West | Shofar

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Victor Garber	...	Jesus
Katie Hanley	...	Katie
David Haskell	...	John / Judas
Merrell Jackson	...	Merrell
Joanne Jonas	...	Joanne
Robin Lamont	...	Robin
Gilmer McCormick	...	Gilmer
Jeffrey Mylett	...	Jeffrey
Jerry Sroka	...	Jerry
Lynne Thigpen	...	Lynne

Also Known As:

Godspell (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | Spanish

Color:

Color (TVC)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:Btl | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Andrew Carnegie Mansion - 2 East 91st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

"All For The Best" ends atop the World Trade Center, still under construction.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The conceit that New York City is magically empty of people (other than Jesus and his disciples) is messed up only once - during the baptism scene on Bethesda Terrace, a man in the background of Central Park Lake can be seen frantically trying to row his boat out of the camera's view (he is visible in 3 separate shots).

Quotes:

Jesus: The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be darkness. If then, the only light you have is darkness, the darkness will be doubly dark.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "That '70s Show: Sunday, Bloody Sunday (#1.10)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Prepare Ye (The Way Of The Lord)

World Trade Center

I still love this movie. More because of the music than the film itself. I think it's interesting to follow actors' careers over the years. Victor Garber (Jesus) has been a very prolific actor over the years. His most recent is that of Jack Bristow on TV's Alias.

One of the other actors is Lynne Thigpen who later went on to play the police captain on "Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego?" and most recently as Ellie Mae Farmer in "The District" before her untimely death. She had a beautiful singing voice.

In one of the scenes notice that they are dancing on top of the World Trade Center as it is still being built. There are several scenes when you can see it in the background about 3/4 finished.

This is an important film for its historical content. The Jesus Movement was big around 1973-74. At the time, many of the hippie set were trying to make Jesus out to be nothing more than a guru. This film was a solid attempt to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus while still portraying him as the Messiah rather than just a spiritual leader.