- Complete Monster: Herod the Great is the tyrannical King of Judea, a paranoid and ruthless old man set to secure his power base. Learning that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, Herod initiates the brutal slaughter of the innocents, a massacre of all boys two or younger in the town with it being reported to Herod that "none" are left alive, along with many of their families.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, Roddy McDowall as Matthew, Gary Raymond as Peter, Joseph Childkraut as Nicodemus, John Abbott as Aben, Philip Coolidge as Chuza, Marian Seldes as Herodias and Chet Stratton as Theophilus.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Donald Pleasence (Satan) would later on play Melchior, one of the wise men, in Jesus of Nazareth. In a roundabout way, he ends up meeting Jesus twice!
- Just Here for Godzilla: Many a channel-hopping TV viewer has stuck with this rather long movie just to see John Wayne as the Centurion at the end.
- Moment of Awesome: Jesus driving out the money-changers and animal sellers from the temple.
- Narm:
- John Wayne's rendition of "Truly this man was the Son of God." No one would blame you for adding "pilgrim", either out loud or subconsciously.
- John the Baptist's arrest. He wrestles with Herod's soldiers in the river Jordan (one leaping from horseback to tackle him) where he forcibly baptizes them, shouting "Repent!!" On the other hand it does fit with John's attitude.
- The use of "Hallelujah Chorus" when Lazarus rises from the dead. Even worse when you realize that this was not the original music for the sequence!
- Special Effects Failure: Golgotha is very obviously a indoor stage with a matte painting.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/TheGreatestStoryEverTold
FollowingYMMV / The Greatest Story Ever Told
Go To
