Peter and Paul (1981)

Peter and Paul assume leadership of the Church as they struggle against violent opposition to the teachings of Christ and their own personal conflicts.

Director:

Robert Day

Writers:

Christopher Knopf (teleplay), Christopher Knopf (story)

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Robert Foxworth, Eddie Albert

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Hopkins	...	Paul of Tarsus
Robert Foxworth	...	Peter the Fisherman
Eddie Albert	...	Festus
Raymond Burr	...	Herod Agrippa I
José Ferrer	...	Gamaliel (as Jose Ferrer)
Jon Finch	...	Luke
David Gwillim	...	Mark
Herbert Lom	...	Barnabas
Jean Peters	...	Priscilla
John Rhys-Davies	...	Silas
Julian Fellowes	...	Nero
Shanit Keter	...	Daphne
Denis Lill	...	James
Gareth Thomas	...	Julius
Giannis Voglis	...	John (as Yannis Voglis)

Storyline

Peter and Paul assume leadership of the Church as they struggle against violent opposition to the teachings of Christ and their own personal conflicts.

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Plot Keywords:

crucified upside down | christian persecution | new testament | acts of the apostles | three word title | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

I skyggen av korset

Filming Locations:

Greece

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

198 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to page 202 of the book "The Bible On Film" (Scarecrow, 1981, written by R. Campbell and M. Pitts) this originally aired in two parts: part one on April 12, 1981, and part two on April 14, 1981.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Gamaliel: [to Paul] Saul Paulus, be careful. Leave these men alone. If this idea of theirs is of human origin, it will collapse. But if it comes from God, you will never be able to fight them, and you will risk finding yourself at war with God.

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Connections

Referenced in Pallon ympäri: Keskeytys uhkaa! (2018)

User Reviews

Standard Biblical fare

About what you would expect from a made-for-TV drama based on the Bible: reverent, hagiographic, and scrupulously faithful to a literal reading of the New Testament. No attempt to question or deconstruct the officially handed down story, this production works primarily as an illustrated guide to the Acts of the Apostles (for a more controversial view of Paul, and his relationship with Jesus's original disciples, read Hyam Maccoby's "The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity"). As such, I suppose this could be seen as a useful teaching aid for Bible studies - much like the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth was for the Gospels. However, don't expect much beyond that: the locations, direction and acting are all serviceable at best, and the drama is mostly underdeveloped. To anyone not already familiar with the story, in fact, the events portrayed within are probably too confusing and inexplicable to be enjoyable or instructive in any way.

I first saw this as a little kid, and I remember that Anthony Hopkins (who I'd never heard of or seen before) made an impression on me (this was well before his Hannibal Lecter days). I rented this on video recently mainly to find out why. It was probably because he is so very striking *looking* as Paul - he has strong features, and a perpetually determined expression on his face. However, I do not find his portrayal convincing overall; he is far too restrained, too genteel, and he plays the part, from first to last, as if assured of his sainthood from the outset. That's the problem with all these Bible stories for TV: they get mired in their own piousness, and assume a reverence which is never earned or explained. As such, they are for believers only. Certainly, Paul must have been a more wily and bombastic character, more slippery and egotistical, than he is portrayed here. In other words, there's a great *human* story in him - to be told by someone, somewhere. This ain't it.