Who's most filmed? Ask Dr. Watson.
Allan R. Andrews
American Reporter Correspondent
Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON -- Mickey Mouse, Satan and Jesus are pitted
against each
other in the annals of Hollywood in a funny little debate that
took
place in the pages of a somewhat obscure magazine called "Bible
Review."
Peter T. Chattaway is a Canadian free-lance writer who reports
for
"Christian Info News," a newspaper for the Christian
community in
Vancouver, B.C. Back in February, Chattaway published an article
in
"Bible Review" entitled, "Jesus in the Movies."
In that article, Chattaway, whom the magazine describes as a "film
buff" and who holds a degree from the University of British
Columbia in
religious studies, asserted that "Jesus may be the most filmed
figure
in history."
Many of the articles that appear in "Bible Review,"
which is a popular
cultural little brother to the more scholarly "Biblical Archaeological
Review," often get embroiled in debates about the historicity
of Jesus.
Ever since the renowned Albert Schweitzer -- who forsook a career
as a
musician and a Biblical scholar to become a medical missionary
in
Africa -- published a seminal little book called "The Quest
for the
Historical Jesus" in 1906, scholars of the New Testament
have taken up
the quest.
If one follows this field of scholarship with little more than
cursory
attention, one discovers the scholars are now talking about the
"Third
Quest" for the historical Jesus.
Schweitzer triggered the first quest; the existential theologians
who
wrote in the wake of the famous Protestant theologian Rudolf Bultmann
embarked on the second quest; the third quest is largely the result
of
the "Jesus Seminar," a loose gathering of theologians,
philosophers,
teachers and writers who gather periodically to debate the degree
of
authenticity of passages from the Holy Bible.
But Chattaway was not interested in the theologian's definition
of the
historical Jesus; he simply asserted that few if any have been
depicted
in the history of filmmaking as has Jesus.
There's ample evidence to support Chattaway's claim.
Two important reference books, Roy Kinnard and Tim Daly's Divine
Images: A History of Jesus on the Screen (1992, Citadel Press)
and W.
Barnes Tatum's Jesus at the Movies: A Guide to the First Hundred
Years,
(1998, Polebridge Press), produce a list of about 60 films that
have
been made about the life of Jesus or related to the gospel accounts
of
his life, ranging from "The Passion Play of Oberammergau,"
directed by
Henry C. Vincent in 1897, to the 1992 British-French collaboration,
"The Favor, the Watch and the Very Big Fish," directed
by Ben Lewin.
The list includes blockbusters such as "Ben Hur (1959),"
"King of Kings
(1927; 1961)," "Godspell (1973)" and "Jesus
of Montreal (1989)."
As Chattaway points out in his article, the 1895 novel
"Quo Vadis?"
initiated four Hollywood attempts to put the story on film, and
Oscar
Wilde's 1892 play, "Salome," has been rendered by several
filmmakers,
one of which, in 1954, had Rita Hayworth performing a stylized
strip-tease. That film was notorious for the liberties it took
with the
Biblical text. The New Testament tale tells of Herod's daughter
dancing
so well to please her father that she was granted her fondest
wish,
which was to have John the Baptist beheaded.
Hayworth's Salome danced to save the life of John the Baptist.
Chattaway also points out that politics often paved the way for
Hollywood's depiction of Jesus. In 1916, shortly after President
Woodrow Wilson vowed to keep America out of the war in Europe,
the
movie "Civilization" depicted Jesus as a pacifist. By
1917, when Wilson
had his appeals overturned and the U.S. made ready to join the
war
effort, "Civilization" was re-edited to make Jesus a
supporter of war.
The debate that arose over Chattaway's article, however, involved
his
claim that Jesus was probably the "most filmed figure"
in the history
of motion pictures.
"Oh, no," wrote Dominick Cancilla, in a letter to "Bible
Review" four
months after Chattaway's article appeared.
While expressing appreciation for Chattaway's review
of the history of
Jesus in films, Cancilla suggested the most filmed figure in history
is
Satan.
"Satan has the advantage of being able to appear in many
guises,"
Cancilla wrote. He provided several examples and emphasized his
conviction by including "any film in which a person is tempted
by an
angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other."
Cancilla went one step further. He asked Roger Ebert, movie critic
for
the Chicago Sun Times, if Ebert regarded Jesus as the most filmed
figure in the history of filmmaking.
"Mickey Mouse has him beat, hands down," Ebert replied.
As one might expect of the magazine that published Chattaway's
article,
"Bible Review" gave the author the last say (at least
through June).
Chattaway expressed
his doubt concerning Mickey Mouse, pointing out
that the Disney character appears in cartoons and shorts that
hardly
qualify as feature-length films.
He also points out that the Disney company keeps a tight legal
rein on
its characters while anybody is free to use Jesus in a movie
(Incidentally, Disney is among a large group trying to convince
Congress to extend copyright to a period of 95 years instead of
75
years, what with Mickey Mouse's 75th birthday looming in five
short
years).
Chattaway also countered the devil's claim to most filmed by noting
that even as Satan appears in many guises, so too has Christ appeared
in many guises in film, none of which he included in his cataloging
of
Jesus in the movies.
Perhaps Chattaway's most stunning revelation, however, (which
implies
he had it wrong), came from the Guinness Book of World Records
for
1998, which asserts that the acknowledged record for most portrayals
in
film is 211 and is held by Sherlock Holmes!
Allan R. Andrews can be contacted
at allan.andrews@reporters.net
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