User Reviews

I happened on this little known religious film quite by accident during the wee hours of the morning on Easter. The Great Commandment refers to what Jesus said, an additional commandment to love one another as I have loved you. Those words are put to the test by a new follower of the Nazarene when his brother is killed by a Roman soldier during a village uprising.

Our protagonist who becomes a follower of Jesus is played by John Beal who is the son of Maurice Moscovitch and brother of Warren McCollum. Beal is in training to study the Hebrew law and become a rabbi. He's also inpatient as his brother awaiting the promise of a Messiah. McCollum is for action ASAP against the Romans, but Beal hears of a carpenter who has taken up preaching and miracle cures who hails from Nazareth. Let's see what he's about before taking up arms reasons Beal.

There's an additional problem in the mix. Moscovitch because Beal will be away in Jerusalem studying at the Temple has entered into a marriage agreement with Lloyd Corrigan for marriage of Corrigan's daughter Marjorie Cooley to McCollum.

Irving Pichel as director did not have a Cecil B. DeMille type budget to operate with. Yet he gets restrained and dignified performances from his cast which includes Albert Dekker as a Roman centurion and Ian Wolfe as a truly sleazy tax collector. Seeing him no wonder Levi left the profession to become Matthew the Apostle.

The Great Commandment was shot on a shoe string, but it's a sincere effort and should get a lot more exposure.

"The Great Commandment" is, like "Ben-Hur", a film telling a fictitious story based around the life of Jesus. The main character is Joel, the elder son of a village rabbi, who hopes that his son will follow him into the rabbinate. Joel, however, is secretly a Zealot, one of a group of nationalistic Jews hoping to lead an uprising to free their people from Roman occupation. He is aware of the teachings of Jesus and believes Him to be the promised Messiah of the Jewish people. Joel hopes that he can persuade Jesus to accept the position of leader of the Zealot cause, and is encouraged by Jesus' disciple, Judas Iscariot, who cherishes similar hopes. A subplot deals with the rivalry between Joel and his younger brother Zadok (another Zealot, even more fanatical and hot-headed than Joel) for the love of the beautiful Tamar. Another important character is Longinus, the Roman centurion who presided over the Crucifixion.

The film was expressly made in order to convey a Christian message. One of the producers, James K. Friedrich, was a clergyman, and the production company was called Cathedral Films. The Great Commandment of the title is the lesson to be drawn from the Parable of the Good Samaritan, "love thy neighbour as thyself". It is hardly surprising, therefore, that it should end with the conversion to Christianity of Joel, Tamar and Longinus. To comply with the requirements of the censors Jesus is not shown directly, only as a reflection in the water, although we hear His voice, provided by the director Irving Pichel.

As well as its obvious religious message, the film may also have had a political message to the America of 1939, the year in which war broke out in Europe. Although the Gospels tell us that Judas betrayed Jesus for monetary reward in the form of his "thirty pieces of silver", it has become something of a cliché in fictional treatments of the Gospel story to depict him as a revolutionary firebrand and his betrayal of Jesus as having political rather than financial motives. This slant on the story appears in the 1961 epic "King of Kings", and it also appears here, probably in the days before it became a cliché. The film draws a contrast between the pacifism of Jesus and another of His disciples, Andrew, and the revolutionary zeal of Judas and Zadok. The film might therefore have been intended to support America's strong isolationist movement by preaching the pacifist message that war, even a war fought in an ostensibly just cause, can never be justified.

Its plot may have some similarities with films like "Ben-Hur" and "King of Kings", but "The Great Commandment" is made in a style which is about as far from the grandiose spectacle of the typical Hollywood Biblical epic as one can get. It was made in black-and-white on an obviously low budget without any spectacular set pieces and without any major stars among the cast. Yet for all its Poverty Row origins the film is made with an obvious sincerity. It preaches its Christian message for its own sake, not as a means of making money by appealing to Bible Belt audiences. If only one could say the same of all big bucks Biblical adaptations. 7/10

For the moral of the story, I would have to give this a thumbs up but not a numerical rating. It is a well-intended drama about the days of Christ and how a family is impacted by his presence due to the drama of two of the brothers as rivals for the same woman. John Beal and Warren McCollum both love Marjorie Cooley, or at least Beal does, but their father (an over the top Albert Dekker) has planned, along with Cooley's father, for McCollum to become betrothed to her. With taxes raised due to a recent rebellion, the mood of the Israelites is foul, but the presence of an unseen prophet (voiced by director Irving Pichel) gives hope that the long-awaited Messiah has arrived.

For people who have seen many of the tales of the Christ as done through Hollywood during the heyday of epics, the magic is not there due to a very low budget and extremely slow pacing. The sets look cheap, and some of the casting is questionable. The presence of Dekker for those who know about his death gives off unintentional laughs of irony. One thing it does right it shows the struggle between the believers of the Old Testament and new philosophies being spoken through the land through the words of Jesus. It is a well intended movie with many flaws that both believers and non-believers will pick up on, as well as cliches about that time that make the film appear very dated and lacks the joy intended through the final message.

This is a Biblical period piece, though its style and content is very different from a Biblical epic. It's much more low-key, low-budget and low energy than the later Bible pieces churned out of Hollywood. Plus, it's almost like Jesus and his life are really incidental--background stories that contribute to the main story. It's all about a fiery young Jew who, like so many others of the period, is angry about the Roman occupation. And, he's also very angry because his father has arranged that his brother marry the woman of his dreams. So, he storms off in a rush and seeks out Christ--hoping Jesus would lead this violent revolution. Instead, he's dismayed that Jesus is so darn peaceful. Perhaps his new friend, Judas, can help....

When you see "The Great Commandment", it's odd because most of the actors who aren't wearing fake beards all seem to look like they stepped right out of 1939--not 33 AD. The hair and styles just don't look right. As for the story, it's not bad--as there was a strong anti-Roman movement in Judea that eventually led to war--a war that went VERY badly for the Jews. As such, I could ignore the silly acting and cheapness of the film--at least historically it was interesting. Not a great film but there was enough to keep me interested.

Like "Ben Hur ",it's another tale of the Christ ,but with a remarkable economy of means ,without color ,without a cast of thousands and without stars .

This is an interesting depiction of the Zealots ,with already a generation gap;Joel knows the Thora by heart ,he is to study in Jerusalem to become a scribe ,like his father .But he's not satisfied ,not only because he is the elder and he won't marry first ,whereas he's in love with his brother's fiancé ,but because he sees his country under the Romans' yoke; he longs for a leader , who can help them fight the occupants ; he goes to Jesus ,but of course it's not what he expects ;the screenwriters found a very original way of getting Jesus 's message across; Joel will understand its meaning after hearing the good Samaritan parable . It's interesting to notice that Joel's father refuses this messiah and the Roman really saved him from his people ;and a smart way to introduce this soldier (Longinus) who pierced Jesus' side (the scriptures read:"not one of his bones will be broken ") .Although with an entirely Christian conclusion , one does not know whether the father and the village will be convinced .Once again , the writers did not take the easy way out: they did not have Jesus rise Jemuel from the dead .

One can only see Christ's hands ,and his story is hinted at all along Joel's story .This little black and white story has superbly stood the test of time .