This film explores the idea of a man who has had his sight restored to him by Jesus but later turns against Him because of His messianic claim, regarding the claim as sacreligious. Like virtually all Biblical stories translated to film, this story is extra-Biblical. But it is a convention most are okay with as long as it does not veer into going counter to what is specifically detailed in the Bible. The man's story is back dropped with the week of the Passion, the time of Passover in Jerusalem in the year of the crucifixion of Jesus. Synthesized story elements of the Gospel accounts of this week, including the likes of Jesus before Pilate and the crowd's demands, serve as not merely a B story, but as an equal A story along with the one of the formerly blind man.
Keep your eyes open for appearances by TV standouts Raymond Burr as Simon the Cyrenean, Richard Hale as Pilate and Michael Ansara as Pilate's military adviser. Other actors may stand out to you but those increased my level of interest in this story.
Bearing in mind this was made in 1951, the style of filming is very different from contemporary methods. Which brings me to the reason I wrote this review. When I see TV shows like this, I am amazed and a little saddened at what happened to Bible storytelling in film in my formative years of the 1960s and early 1970s. I hate to say it, but it really seemed as though when in 1962 the US Supreme Court struck down prayer in public schools television and movie executives, educators and their administrators, and judges and the whole judicial system it was a larger decision that made a secular society compulsory.
The good news is that Biblical stories have made a strong comeback, due to the respectful efforts of modern Christian filmmakers like Mark Burnett and others. But I look at the damage that was done to me spiritually in this void and think what my life might have been. In the end, I must take responsibility but we all know the power of positive influences ... and the destructive effects from a lack of them.
Keep your eyes open for appearances by TV standouts Raymond Burr as Simon the Cyrenean, Richard Hale as Pilate and Michael Ansara as Pilate's military adviser. Other actors may stand out to you but those increased my level of interest in this story.
Bearing in mind this was made in 1951, the style of filming is very different from contemporary methods. Which brings me to the reason I wrote this review. When I see TV shows like this, I am amazed and a little saddened at what happened to Bible storytelling in film in my formative years of the 1960s and early 1970s. I hate to say it, but it really seemed as though when in 1962 the US Supreme Court struck down prayer in public schools television and movie executives, educators and their administrators, and judges and the whole judicial system it was a larger decision that made a secular society compulsory.
The good news is that Biblical stories have made a strong comeback, due to the respectful efforts of modern Christian filmmakers like Mark Burnett and others. But I look at the damage that was done to me spiritually in this void and think what my life might have been. In the end, I must take responsibility but we all know the power of positive influences ... and the destructive effects from a lack of them.