George Stevens was famous/notorious for being so affected by filming concentration camps during WW2 that all his movies from then onwards were weighted down with "significance"; certainly he devoted more time and care on each one, especially when it came to shooting re-takes, but he was a man of great talent and some marvellous films resulted. This one, however, he buckled under the weight of good intentions - the importance subject matter seems to have overwhelmed him, and as a result all the life and humanity and passion is squeezed out of it.
It's certainly beautiful - Stevens was an ex-cameraman and his films are all beautifully shot, none more so than this. The desert landscapes are beautiful, as are the sparse corridors of power of the ruling Romans/Jews (stone floors, curtains, lit by flame), the white robes that people where. Too beautiful - Jesus (Max von Sydow, ideally cast) never seems human, but nor do his disciples, even normally sure-fire characters like Judas and Peter. The best performances were from Jose Ferrer, as the all-too-practical Herod, and Donald Pleasance, as Satan (the scene where he attempts to corrupt Jesus is the creepiest and easily the most effective).
Another problem is one endemic to all Jesus films - because so many of the things He said are well known, whenever he speaks its like he's reciting quotes rather than speaking dialogue.
The film was criticised for its all star cast but I think that works - a new star comes along every ten minutes or so to keep things lively. I did find Shelley Winters a bit jarring, and John Wayne is hilarious for all the wrong reasons as the centurion who says "truly this was the son of god". Charlton Heston is effective as John the Baptist (wearing not many clothes, like most Heston roles in the 60s, very restrained compared with Alan Badel in Salome), and there is good work from Sidney Poitier, Claude Rains, etc.
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