October 13, 1961: King of Kings premieres, directed by Nicholas Ray, and starring Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus of Nazareth.
This version of his story is narrated by Orson Welles. It begins well before his birth, in 63 BC, with Roman soldiers sacking Jerusalem, and finding a prophecy of their conquest. The story then moves on to Jesus' birth and the flight to Egypt; jumps ahead to Jesus' baptism at age 30 by John the Baptist (Robert Ryan), the temptation by Satan (voice of Ray Milland) in the desert, the recruiting of the Apostles in Galilee, the miracles, the Last Supper, the betrayal by Judas (Rip Torn), his trial, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rise.
Among the other actors: Irish actress Siobhán McKenna as Jesus' mother Mary, Royal Dano as Peter, Harry Guardino as Barabbas, Hurd Hatfield as Pontius Pilate, and Swedish actress Viveca Lindfors as Pilate's wife, who is never named in the Bible, but here is named Claudia Procula, and has a more significant role.
Although 1965 would bring The Greatest Story Ever Told, with Max Von Sydow in the role, 1977 the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth -- produced by Italian network RAI and British network ITV, and shown in America on NBC, starring Robert Powell -- and other films would tell Jesus' story, King of Kings remains the most popular film version.
That's probably because Hunter was made to look like the most familiar portraits of Jesus, the Renaissance version, where the painters pandered by making him look like their patrons, who were light-skinned and blond, from so north in Italy that they might as well have been Austrian. He certainly didn't look like a 30-year-old Jewish man born and raised in the Middle East.
Probably more like this.
Someone modern American "Christians"
wouldn't want to see get on a plane with them.
The name Jesus is the English transliteration, through Latin Iesus, of the Ancient Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Joshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ Yehoshua). This Hebrew/Aramaic name was common among Judean Jews at the time of Jesus's birth, although by that period it had been shortened to יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua) from יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshua). So, in his own youth, he would have been called Yeshua ben Yosef: Joshua, son of Joseph. As a grown man, with surnames not yet a phenomenon, the geographic appellation "of Nazareth" would have been added. "Christ" is not a name, but a title, from the Greek Christos, meaning "the anointed." That is based on the Hebrew word משיח (mashiakh), transliterated into English as "messiah."
Based on information in the Bible, and an astronomical data, the most likely date for the birth of Jesus is not the traditional December 25, 1 BC, but sometime between 7 and 4 BC; and the dates of his death and resurrection as April 3 and 5, AD 33. In other words, "The third day, he rose from the dead" doesn't mean it took three full days: The 3rd was the 1st day, the 4th was the 2nd day, and the 5th was the 3rd day.
Neither Jews nor Muslims consider Jesus the "Messiah" or the "Savior." They are still looking for the First Coming, not the Second Coming. But both faiths do consider him a prophet. The Bible only says that "large crowds" came to see him preach, including at the Sermon on the Mount, but not how large. Like many historical figures, his true influence came after he walked the Earth, with his message spread by others. And that message did eventually overtake Rome -- but not before the Romans did even more damage to Jerusalem.
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October 13, 1961 was a Friday -- meaning that a film biography of Jesus premiered on a Friday the 13th. Future basketball stars Derek Harper and Doc Rivers were born.
Baseball season had ended 4 days earlier, with the New York Yankees defeating the Cincinnati Reds in Game 5 of the World Series. The NBA season started 6 days later. The NHL season had started, but no games were scheduled.
There were 2 college football games. The University of Colorado beat the University of Miami, 9-7 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. And the University of Detroit beat Boston College, 20-3 at the University of Detroit Stadium.
The NFL was in midweek. There was 1 game in the American Football League: The Houston Oilers and the Boston Patriots played to a tie, 31-31 at Boston University Field, later renamed Nickerson Field.
