It originally aired back in the day when Americans had three TV stations to choose from, and when every household had a designated channel changer instead of remote control. In a way, the limited channels brought the country together. From the subways to the mountains, from the rich to the poor, young and old alike, we’d likely all watched the same thing on TV the night before.
For those of us alive in 1977, whether children like myself or older family members we’ve since lost, it was a huge event: the first made-for-TV series depicting the life of Christ. Over 90 million viewers tuned in for the first installment which aired on Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week and the Sunday before Easter.
The first thing we heard was that beautifully haunting soundtrack that demanded our attention. Nearly 50 years later, the score that is described as “alternately majestic and quietly intimate” still sends me into a state of quiet reverence. Composed by Maurice Jarre, who had previously written scores for “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia,” it infused the film with an air of mystery fit for a biblical tale.
And so it was that long before “The Passion of the Christ,” and predating millions tuning in to see “The Chosen,” there was Robert Powell in the title role of Jesus of Nazareth—in a film that many still consider the most inspiring depiction of Christ’s life ever made.
Working in the location of Morocco and Tunisia, the cast had their faces pelted with Saharan sand flung from a wind machine, even as a cold damp wind from the Mediterranean continually knocked over flood lights. Another day of shooting found them choking from incense. “Franco wants to give the picture a feeling of age, like the old Italian paintings,” Powell had explained about the director.
The Magic of Zeffirelli
That great director whom Powell referenced was the incomparable Franco Zeffirelli, master of stage and screen. Besides “Jesus of Nazareth,” which many consider his chef-d’oeuvre, he directed 1968’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and brought other Shakespearean plays to the screen with rave reviews (“Otello” and “Hamlet,” the latter of which most notably starred a young Mel Gibson.)
Director of "Jesus of Nazareth," Franco Zeffirelli in 1972. Library of Congress. (Public Domain)
And of course, there was his incredible contribution to opera, bringing “La Traviata” and “Pagliacci” to the big screen, and staging such greats as Pavarotti, Domingo, and Callas. He is memorialized with plaques at each end of the Met stage proscenium “for the dozen lavish productions he created that ‘shaped the history’ of the Metropolitan Opera.”
Zeffirelli was also a devout, anti-abortion Catholic who struggled with homosexuality after claiming to have been sexually molested by a priest as a child. In his conflicted autobiography, he wrote: ““I believe totally in the teachings of the Church, and this means admitting that my way of life is sinful.”
Universal Portrayal
Of course, at the time of his work on “Jesus of Nazareth,” none of this was known. As a matter of fact, the only thing people cared about was that Zeffirelli had some pretty impressive religious backing. As early screenings of the film commenced, it was praised by the Pontifical Commission for Relations with Non-Christian Religions, the National Catholic Radio and Television Center, the Interreligious Affairs of the American Jewish Committee, and Campus Crusade for Christ International.
John the Baptist (Michael York, L) baptizes Jesus (Robert Powell), in "Jesus of Nazareth." (Movie StillsDB)
Zeffirelli gifted cinema history with an ordinary man who radiated divine energy. To convey an air of “messianic spirituality,” the director instructed Powell not to blink. Resultingly, Powell’s mesmerizing blue eyes conveyed the illusion that God himself was peering out at us. It was a result that Powell worked hard on.
Reflecting on his acting for the role, Powell said: “You go in as an actor and work subjectively, but the moment you start to try and play [Jesus] as a real person you lose the divinity completely. So from that moment on, I played it objectively without any recourse to giving him any particular idiosyncrasies, quite deliberately avoiding the normal human things.”
Whatever Powell did, it worked. It was as if he created the template of a universal Jesus that reached out to touch the hearts of believers and unbelievers alike. Powell himself said that he believed the film had “such a hold on the culture” because it reached a vast audience and because the filmmakers were so “non-specific” in their approach to Jesus. He went on to say that they’d received tens of thousands of letters all saying the same thing: “It’s exactly how I imagined him to be.”
Vision on a Windswept Day
It cannot be overstated that most of the cast were among the biggest names: Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Peter Ustinov, Anne Bancroft, Michael York, Rod Steiger, James Mason, Anthony Quinn … ; the list goes on.
Mary Magdalene (Anne Bancroft, L) washes the feet of Jesus (Robert Powell, R) as Joseph of Arimathea (James Mason, C) watches, in "Jesus of Nazareth." (MovieStills DB)
One of my personal favorites was Ernest Borgnine. No one who has seen the movie can forget his statement of faith as the Roman centurion speaking to Jesus: “I am unworthy that you should enter under my roof. I know that if you say the word my servant will be healed.” But a story that wasn’t widely reported was Borgnine’s real-life spiritual experience on the set.
In an article that he wrote for Guideposts in 1989, he gives a detailed description of a mystical vision he had while filming the crucifixion scene. Since the camera was focused only on Borgnine, neither the cross nor Powell had to be present. Instead, Borgnine was instructed to look at a chalk mark on a piece of scenery as though he were looking at Christ. He wasn’t ready. He was uneasy. He asked for someone to read from the Bible the words that Jesus spoke on the cross. Director Zeffirelli obliged.
As Borgnine considered in his mind what the centurion would have thought and felt, he looked up and saw the face of Christ, “lifelike and clear.”
“It was not the features of Robert Powell I was used to seeing, but the most beautiful, gentle visage I have ever known. His face was still filled with compassion. He looked down at me through tragic, sorrowful eyes with an expression of love beyond description.”
Joseph (Yorgo Voyagis) and Mary (Olivia Hussey) greet visitors who come to see the newborn Jesus. (Movie StillsDB)
He heard Christ’s final words: “Father into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” Then he saw Christ’s head slump to one side and knew he was dead. “A terrible grief welled within me and, completely oblivious to the camera, I started sobbing uncontrollably.”
By the time they yelled “Cut!” Borgnine noticed fellow actors Olivia Hussey and Anne Bancroft crying too. He added: “Whether I saw a vision of Jesus that windswept day or whether it was only something in my mind, I do not know. It doesn’t matter. For I do know that it was a profound spiritual experience and that I have not been quite the same person since.”
Many of us haven’t been quite the same since that movie. This Easter, why not consider revisiting this great movie, or introducing it to someone who’s never seen it?
Get out the popcorn, dim the lights, and listen as that majestic music rises to prepare us for entering that supernatural world of our dreams … where we see the manger, the ministry, the crucifixion, and the empty tomb.
Perhaps when we get to the other side, God will show us the original footage, but for those of us still trapped in this mortal coil, it may be the closest thing we’ve got.
