"Family Theatre" Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration (1951)

Director:

Arthur Pierson

Writers:

(more)

TV Series:

"Family Theatre" (1949)

Original Air Date:

25 March 1951

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A respectful interpretation of what might have happened among Jesus's followers in the three days before Crucifixion. The story is told in the modern context of an US Army company stationed in Korea during the Korean War. |

Plot Keywords:

Crucifixion | Chaplain | Sergeant | Roman Soldier | Jerusalem

Cast

Patrick Peyton	...	Host (as Father Patrick Peyton)
Gordon Oliver	...	Padre
Todd Karns	...	Cpl. Bates
Roddy McDowall	...	Pvt. Huntington (The Professor)
Charles Smith	...	Pvt. Carson
Ray Hyke	...	Sgt. Mansfield
Spec O'Donnell	...	Pvt. Cashman (as 'Spec' O'Donnell)
William Schallert	...	Pvt. Wheeler (as Bill Schallert)
Dan Rankins	...	Cpl. Weaver
Marc Hamilton	...	Pvt. Madigan
Peter Similuk	...	Forward Observer
Ruth Hussey	...	Mary
Henry Brandon	...	Cassius Longinus
Leif Erickson	...	Pilate
Nelson Leigh	...	Joseph of Arimathea
Joan Leslie	...	Claudia Procles
Jeanne Cagney	...	Mary Magdalen
Charles Meredith	...	Peter
Frank Wilcox	...	Abenadar, the Centurion - St. Ctésiphon
Peter Mamakos	...	Gallicus
Gene Lockhart	...	Matthew
Everett Glass	...	Gaius Flaccus
Regis Toomey	...	Nicodemus
James Dean	...	John
Terry Kilburn	...	Stephen
David Young	...	Andrew
Frederic Berest	...	Thomas (as Fred Berest)
Joseph F. Mansfield	...	Alba
Michael Ansara	...	Decius
Jack Baston	...	Pilate's Scribe
Pauline Crell	...	Mara
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Warner Bellah	...	Roman Soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Arthur Pierson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
James D. Roche		uncredited

Produced by
Jerry Fairbanks	....	producer
Patrick Peyton	....	producer (as Father Patrick Peyton)

Original Music by
Charles Koff

Cinematography by
Harold E. Stine		(as Harold Stine)
Lester White		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John C. Fuller

Art Direction by
Oscar P. Yerg

Production Management
Jerry Fairbanks	....	executive in charge of production
Herbert Moulton	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tom Andre	....	assistant director
Bob Scrivner	....	assistant director (as Robert Scrivner)

Sound Department
Larry Aicholtz	....	sound (as Lawrence Aicholtz)

Editorial Department
Richard Fritch	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Edward Paul	....	musical director

Production Companies

• Jerry Fairbanks Productions

Other Companies

• Family Rosary Crusade  sponsor

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Jerry Fairbanks Inc., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Jerry Fairbanks Productions

Trivia:

Televised debut of James Dean.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Bible According to Hollywood (1994) (V)

FAMILY THEATER: HILL NUMBER ONE (TV) (Arthur Pierson, 1951) **1/2

This is one of four relatively short films made by powerful American religious groups that were packaged together in a 3-Disc 10-movie budget collection entitled "Bible Time Favorites" – the remaining titles being popular Hollywood or peplum efforts on a religious theme which have fallen into the public domain. Anyway, this one is perhaps the most successful because it treats the subject in an original, albeit unsurprisingly reverent, manner – the titular 'outpost' being Golgotha (the place of Christ's crucifixion) and which is recounted on Easter Sunday by a padre to a squad of battle-weary G.I.s; in flashback, we see the events immediately following Jesus' death – which, again, strikes a point in its favor since these haven't been depicted all that often on-screen. The cast is an eclectic mix of character actors: Roddy MacDowall appears as a soldier in the 'modern' story, while Ruth Hussey, Joan Leslie, Gene Lockhart, Regis Toomey and Leif Erickson, among others, all interpret characters from the Bible – the latter, especially, making for a fine Pontius Pilate; however, most interestingly, this marks the debut of none other than James Dean – who already compels attention with his quietly sensitive portrayal of John, the youngest of Christ's apostles. Unfortunately, the film ends on the wrong foot with a cloying plea from a doddering priest for families to recite the rosary daily!