In Search of Historic Jesus (1979)

This examination of historical sources speculates on the accuracy of the biblical depiction of Jesus.

Director:

Henning Schellerup

Writers:

Jack Jacobs, Lee Roddy

Stars:

John Rubinstein, John Anderson, Nehemiah Persoff

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Rubinstein	...	Jesus
John Anderson	...	Caiaphas
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Herod Antipas
Brad Crandall	...	Narrator
Andrew Bloch	...	Apostle John
Morgan Brittany	...	Mary
Walter Brooke	...	Joseph of Arimathea
Annette Charles	...	Mary Magdalene
Royal Dano	...	Prophet #1
Anthony De Longis	...	Peter
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Pontius Pilate
Jeffrey Druce	...	Thomas
John Hoyt	...	Synagogue Man #1
Stanley Kamel	...	Andrew
David Opatoshu	...	Herod

Storyline

This examination of historical sources speculates on the accuracy of the biblical depiction of Jesus.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to jesus christ | biblical | crucifixion of jesus | reenactment | whipping | 

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Taglines:

"2000 years ago on a hilltop near Jerusalem a man was brutally whipped, repeatedly tortured and finally crucified. His name was Jesus." WAS HE THE SON OF GOD?

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1979 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Jeesus

Filming Locations:

Utah, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$22,438,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sunn Classic Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Unlike many other movies, the crucifixion of Jesus depicted here shows the nails being driven through his wrists rather than his palms. This may also be the only Jesus movie in which his whipping is shown in a sequence which follows by some minutes a sequence showing his crucifixion.

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Quotes

Narrator: Under normal circumstances, men were tied to the cross, as was the case with the two thieves, but the Romans nailed Jesus to his cross to further humiliate the King of the Jews.

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Connections

Features In Search of Noah's Ark (1976)

User Reviews

Unusually strong reaction from Siskel and Ebert

I remember that this movie was specifically singled out as "Dog of the Week" by S & E. They had an absolute disdain for Sunn Classics pictures anyway, and felt that this was a ripoff to people looking for a faith strengthening documentary but instead getting ripped off by an el cheapo con job.

These were the same guys who made a lot of low budget family films that were shown in the "second run" theatres back in the 70's (remember those?). Some were OK, but most were grade z. The blockbusters like Star Wars pretty much killed the market for these at the movie house, but you see a lot of stuff like this in the straight-to-video market these days. I guess they can spend more on the production, less on the distribution...