Dore Schary tried to get MGM in on the biblical craze in the mid 50s, throwing a bunch of money and Cinemascope at this attempted epic. It lost a bundle, and no wonder, for it's pretty bad.
There's no reason why the parable of the prodigal son couldn't have made a good movie. Although it is only a short tale, there's three strong characters - good brother, wastrel brother, strict but loving dad - and a decent three act structure: son goes and blows money, gets forgiveness. You can easily see the chance for a female role - someone to tempt the prodigal.
The writers of this throw away the guts of the story. There's no brotherly conflict- John Dehner, who plays the brother, is hardly in it; he's upset for five seconds then forgives his brother. The dad, played by Walter Hampden, is barely in it too - he pops in at the beginning and the end.
Instead you've got Edmund Purdom making friends with a mute slave, James Mitchell, who used to be owned by Louis Calhern. Purdom gets the hots for priestess Lana Turner, and asks for his money and dumps dull but pretty betrothed Audrey Dalton for her. Then there's this subplot about Purdom and some beggars rising up against oppressors.
I was confused by this film. What should have been a simple story was needlessly complicated, bringing in this mute servant, and beggars, and priests. I wasn't sure what religion people were - I get that Purdom was Jewish but what was everyone else? Why were the baddies bad? Why did Turner have to die? She didn't do anything bad except be a priestess; she seems to like Purdom and was nice to that little girl. Why not use the brother/dad/good girl more? Why not be clearer what was going on? Why not redeem Turner?
The cast aren't up to it. Turner has a suprisingly small role and looks good but is too sympathetic - she needed to be a real vamp. As it is, when she's killed by a mob you feel depressed, and you hate Purdom. Purdom is weak and made me have fresh appreciation for Charlton Heston.
The production design is fantastic, costumes brilliant and Richard Thorpe keeps it banging along. But it's an awful story and I'm really starting to resent Dore Schary at MGM - he simply didn't have the knack for this sort of thing.
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