The Greatest Stories Ever Told - 8-DVD Set ( The Agony and the Ecstasy / The Bible in the Beginning… / The Robe / Demetrius and the Gladiators / Francis of Assisi / The Greatest Story Ever Told / The Song of Bernadette / The Story of Ruth / )

The Greatest Stories Ever Told - 8-DVD Set (DVD) (*)

$51.99

Original Title: The Agony and the Ecstasy / The Bible in the Beginning… / The Robe / Demetrius and the Gladiators / Francis of Assisi / The Greatest Story Ever Told / The Song of Bernadette / The Story of Ruth /
Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
1098 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Multi-DVD Set
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1943-1966 and produced in:
Italy ( Italy, Greece )
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Carol Reed
John Huston
Henry Koster
Delmer Daves
Michael Curtiz
George Stevens
Henry King

Written By:
Irving Stone
Philip Dunne
Christopher Fry
Jonathan Griffin
Ivo Perilli
Vittorio Bonicelli
Orson Welles
Mario Soldati

Gina Kaus
Lloyd C. Douglas
Albert Maltz
Ludwig von Wohl
Eugene Vale
James Forsyth
Jack W. Thomas
Fulton Oursler
Henry Denker
James Lee Barrett
George Stevens
Carl Sandburg
George Seaton
Franz Werfel
Jacques Monteux
Norman Corwin

Actors:
Charlton Heston ..... Michelangelo
Rex Harrison ..... Pope Julius II
Diane Cilento ..... Contessina de'Medici
Harry Andrews ..... Bramante
Alberto Lupo ..... Francesco Maria della Rovere, duke of Urbino
Adolfo Celi ..... Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici (pope Leo X)
Venantino Venantini ..... Paris De Grassis
John Stacy ..... Sangallo
Fausto Tozzi ..... Foreman
Maxine Audley ..... Woman
Tomas Milian ..... Raphael
Michael Parks ..... Adam
Ulla Bergryd ..... Eve
Richard Harris ..... Cain
John Huston ..... Noah
Stephen Boyd ..... Nimrod
George C. Scott ..... Abraham
Ava Gardner ..... Sarah
Peter O'Toole ..... The Three Angels
Zoe Sallis ..... Hagar
Gabriele Ferzetti ..... Lot
Eleonora Rossi Drago ..... Lot's Wife
Richard Burton ..... Marcellus Gallio
Jean Simmons ..... Diana
Victor Mature ..... Demetrius
Michael Rennie ..... Peter
Jay Robinson ..... Caligula
Dean Jagger ..... Justus
Torin Thatcher ..... Sen. Gallio
Richard Boone ..... Pontius Pilate
Betta St. John ..... Miriam
Jeff Morrow ..... Paulus
Ernest Thesiger ..... Emperor Tiberius
Susan Hayward ..... Messalina
Debra Paget ..... Lucia
Anne Bancroft ..... Paula
Barry Jones ..... Claudius
William Marshall ..... Glycon
Richard Egan ..... Dardanius
Ernest Borgnine ..... Strabo
Charles Evans ..... Cassius Chaerea
Bradford Dillman ..... Francis Bernardone of Assisi
Dolores Hart ..... Clare
Stuart Whitman ..... Count Paolo of Vandria
Cecil Kellaway ..... Cardinal Hugolino
Eduard Franz ..... Pietro Bernardone
Athene Seyler ..... Aunt Buona
Finlay Currie ..... The Pope
Mervyn Johns ..... Brother Juniper
Russell Napier ..... Brother Elias
John Welsh ..... Canon Cattanei
Harold Goldblatt ..... Bernard
Max von Sydow ..... Jesus
Michael Anderson Jr. ..... James the Younger
Carroll Baker ..... Veronica
Ina Balin ..... Martha of Bethany
Pat Boone ..... Angel at the Tomb
Victor Buono ..... Sorak
Richard Conte ..... Barabbas
Joanna Dunham ..... Mary Magdalene
José Ferrer ..... Herod Antipas
Van Heflin ..... Bar Amand
Charlton Heston ..... John the Baptist
William Eythe ..... Antoine Nicolau
Charles Bickford ..... Father Peyramale
Vincent Price ..... Prosecutor Vital Dutour
Lee J. Cobb ..... Dr. Dozous
Gladys Cooper ..... Sister Marie Therese Vauzous
Anne Revere ..... Louise Soubirous
Roman Bohnen ..... François Soubirous
Mary Anderson ..... Jeanne Abadie
Patricia Morison ..... Empress Eugenie
Aubrey Mather ..... Mayor Lacade
Charles Dingle ..... Jacomet
Elana Eden ..... Ruth
Stuart Whitman ..... Boaz
Tom Tryon ..... Mahlon
Peggy Wood ..... Naomi
Viveca Lindfors ..... Eleilat
Jeff Morrow ..... Tob
Thayer David ..... Hedak
Les Tremayne ..... Elimelech
Eduard Franz ..... Jehoam
Leo Fuchs ..... Sochin
Lili Valenty ..... Kera

Synopsis:

The Agony and the Ecstasy: Pope Julius II (Sir Rex Harrison) is eager to leave behind works by which he will be remembered. To this end he cajoles Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) into painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When not on the battlefield uniting Italy, the Pope nags Michelangelo to speed up his painful work on the frescoes. The Bible in the Beginning...: An elaborate Hollywood retelling of the Bible stories narrated by the film's director John Huston. We open with the Creation of the World and arrive at the Garden of Eden with our first ancestral parents and continue on to Cain murdering his younger brother Abel. Next, we visit Noah and his ark with its spectacular flood sequence. Then we come to the story of Nimrod, King of Babel, the emergence of man's vanity and the heights to which it could aspire if unchecked. Finally we cover Abraham, a mystic who spoke personally with God, a leader of men, a builder of nations, a pioneer and a warrior and Sarah. At the time she conceived her first child, the event being forecast by an Angel of the Lord. Three such Heavenly Messengers appeared in the course of events which befell Abraham and Sarah. The Robe: Marcellus is a tribune in the time of Christ. He is in charge of the group that is assigned to crucify Jesus. Drunk, he wins Jesus' homespun robe after the crucifixion. He is tormented by nightmares and delusions after the event. Hoping to find a way to live with what he has done, and still not believing in Jesus, he returns to Palestine to try to learn what he can of the man he killed. Demetrius and the Gladiators: The story picks up at the point where 'The Robe (1953)' ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-keeping, but the emperor Caligula wants it back to benefit from its powers. Marcellus' former slave Demetrius seeks to prevent this, and catches the eye of Messalina, wife to Caligula's uncle Claudius. Messalina tempts Demetrius, he winds up fighting in the arena, and wavers in his faith. Francis of Assisi: Francis Bernardone (Bradford Dillman) is the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, who gives up all his worldly goods to dedicate himself to God. Clare (Dolores Hart) is a young aristocratic woman who, according to the film, is so taken with St. Francis that she leaves her family and becomes a nun. By this time (1212 A.D.), St. Francis has a well-established reputation for his vows of poverty. The movie goes on to note miracles (such as the appearance of the stigmata on Francis's hands and feet) and other aspects of his life, up to and including his death on October 3, 1226. The Greatest Story Ever Told: 'My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?' It is towards this climactic crossroads that the story of Jesus of Nazareth leads, and to which, at the final moment, it again looks back in triumphant retrospect. It is the anguishing crossroads where the eternal questions of faith and doubt become resolved. The Song of Bernadette: In 1858 France, Bernadette, an adolescent peasant girl, has a vision of 'a beautiful lady' in the city dump. She never claims it to be anything other than this, but the townspeople all assume it to be the virgin Mary. The pompous government officials think she is insane, and do their best to suppress the girl and her followers, while the church wants nothing to do with the whole matter. But as Bernadette attracts wider and wider attention, the phenomenon overtakes everyone in the town, and transforms their lives. The Story of Ruth: Inspired by the tale from Hebrew scriptures and the Christian Bible, the Moabitess child Ruth is sold to the temple of Chemosh. Years pass and she serves as a priestess to the idol. While arranging a temple ritual, she encounters a Judean family of artisans: Elimelech, his wife Naomi, their sons Chilion and Mahlon, and daughter-in-law Orpah. Ruth is curious about their God, and begins to meet secretly with Mahlon. After tragedy strikes, Ruth follows Naomi and begins a new life in Bethlehem...

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 02 December, 2024.