I Beheld His Glory

This low budget Easter story film has George MacReady in the unusual position of being the good guy for a change. MacReady is cast as a Roman centurion who is telling friends of the disciple Thomas of recent events in Jerusalem particularly the fate of a young carpenter from Nazareth who had taken up preaching and had developed a bit of a following.

The format is an interesting one. It's the telling of the gospel, but from the point of view that this was fresh good news. I hardly need go into the plot.

MacReady has a rich, cultured voice which usually is used playing very suave and cultured villains. He's a compelling narrator of the story and his place as a witness to a miracle.

A few other familiar character players like Lowell Gilmore as Pontius Pilate, Morris Ankrum as Peter, and James Griffith as a questioning Pharisee will be spotted in the cast. Robert Wilson who plays Jesus played that role in several other TV and big screen projects.

MacReady also gives a lucid explanation of the difficulties of ruling a far flung empire. No less true in this modern world.

I Beheld His Glory is fine low budget production suitable for more than church.

I Beheld His Glory is a 1 hour TV movie about a centurion who witnesses the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, and therefore becomes a Christian. This plot has been done before(see my titles above), but this is one of the earliest versions of that Bible-inspired tale.

Despite taking liberties with the perspective, we do see many Gospel-based aspects of Holy Week, such as "Give Unto Caesar What Is Caesar's", The First Communion, Gethsemane, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, Doubting Thomas, etc.

The movie has a low budget, and while it doesn't look great(a reason this is a 9 and not a 10), I will say I have seen worse looking Bible productions. (I had a half hour video as a kid called "The Crucifixion" and a babysitter I showed it too said it looked 100 years old, or something like that. This looks slightly better.)

Besides the look being a minor flaw, I also thought that the movie started out on a slow start for about 8 minutes. I didn't hate it, but I was not amazed yet, but again this is a minor gripe.

Still, despite these minor flaws, I Beheld His Glory is a powerful and moving recreation of Easter that I would be more than happy to revisit. I also would understand another person giving it a 10. (To be honest, my thoughts jump between the 2 ratings.)

The centurion proclaims at the end "I Beheld His Glory." So did I, and I'm sure you will as well!

Note: I saw this on a DVD called "Family Bible Collection"-which I got at the Dollar Tree. I went there today and still saw a copy of it. If you have a Dollar Tree near you, that would be your best bet to see this movie.)

Disclaimer: Just because a movie is poorly shot, that doesn't immediately make it a bad movie or a major flaw. This is also important to note/consider when seeing a movie like this, especially when it is 66 years old and made for TV. I'm just stating that it was a MINOR flaw with the movie.

Among the films of the last days of The Savior, "I Beheld His Gory" is not a revelation. But, against its status of low budget film, it has the virtue of honesty. After "Risen", it seems not be original but the performance of George Macready is not only convincing but, after more than half of century, it preserves entire tension, precision and freshness. Like the beautiful Last Supper.The portrait of a testimony. Not exceptional but using the pieces of the tragedy of The Son of God in honest and decent manner.