Casting for the Cross

A great movie company once decided to film the life of Christ and cast the day's best-loved lover in the leading part. When the movie moguls gathered in the projection room to view the rushes of the Crucifixion scene (as Ben Hecht tells it in his short story The Missing Idol), they realized that something extraordinary had happened. The actor was not to be seen on the Cross. By God's direct intervention, the space between the two thieves had remained a complete blank.

Over the years, actors have charily avoided filling that blank. Instead, they have lent only their feet (The Robe), the back (BenHur) or the briefest glimpse (Quo Vadis). Most notable exception: H. B. Warner, who portrayed Christ in Cecil B. DeMille's silent epic. The King of Kings, and never lived it down. Even when he went into a bar, someone would say: "What! Christ drinking a cocktail?" Now once again, moviemakers are, in the words of a Variety headline, PRESENTING

FULL-VIEW JESUS.

P:Producer-Director George ( The Diary of Anne Frank) Stevens is scouring the Middle East for authentic local color to include in 20th Century-Fox's The Greatest Story Ever Told, but has not yet found the actor to play Jesus.

P:Samuel (John Paul Jones) Bronston, shooting another version of The King of Kings, in Spain, has made the most progress. Bronston spent two years searching for the right man to play Christ, finally settled on a Hollywood actor, Jeffrey Hunter, 33. Explains Bronston: "We were looking for eyes that show sorrow and kindness." Hunter recalls his being tapped: "I thought the script was great and asked what role they had in mind for me. 'Like maybe Jesus Christ,' they said. I answered, 'Sure.' " Also in the cast: Siobhan McKenna as Mary, Hurd Hatfield as Pilate, Robert Ryan as John the Baptist, Marlon Brando's sister Jocelyn as Martha, Rip Torn as Judas.

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