Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Over the Top

In our house, we have old standards at Christmas and at Easter that we never tire of watching.  At Easter, The Robe is a perennial favorite, and I'm almost ashamed to admit that Jay Robinson as Caligula is a major reason why.  I found this compilation of most of his scenes.    Whenever I watch this movie, the Love Theme plays over and over again in my head for days.  Perhaps I'll post a link to it if I can find it.  In the meantime, take a gander at Robinson's over-the-top performance, but fasten your seat belts first.


2 comments:

  1. That's one of those movies I've seen parts but never seen the whole thing. I'm not a movie buff. That clip does look very good. I've never even heard of Jay Robinson, but he does a great job.

    Oh I did see the entire Jesus of Nazareth through Lent. Visually it was a super movie, but I can't make up my mind if it was better than The Passion of the Christ. I think The Passion moved me more, though J of Naz had its moving moments too. There were what I thought a couple of places where i felt they took a little liberty with the Gospel events. They seemed to make an assumption that Judas was one of the radicals, which he may have been, but none of the Gospels suggests that. And unless I missed it, there was never a piercing of Jesus's side while on the cross. Well, that's an important detail to miss, especially since the blood and water that comes out is redemptive. So I found moments where I was picking it apart. But still it was epic in scope and breath and the characters were very convincing.

    I did notice that Anthony Burgess was part of the group of screen writers. He's a fine author by the way. His masterpiece is A Clockwork Orange.

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  2. Hi Manny
    There were actual a few scenes that did not seem to originate from the Gospels. For instance, there is nothing to suggest that Jesus ever spoke with Barabas. I don't really concern myself with which movie is better. They're very different, that's for sure. For me, Robert Powell is my favorite celluloid version of Christ and I found it interesting to read all of the little tricks Franco Zefferelli used, such as the sparing use of eye liner and the "no blinking" direction, which helped Powell have a more mystic appearance.

    The Passion of the Christ is not entirely based on the Gospels either, though I'm not really bothered by the few details that are not. To my knowledge, the movie is based on the visions of Blessed Catherine Emmerich.

    One of these days I'll have to get around to The Greatest Story Ever Told. I've never seen it.

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