The Greatest Story Ever Told bears some resemblance to King of Kings (1961) in that they both frame Jesus' ministry in the context of a larger struggle between Rome and Isreal. Herod Antipas, like his father (played by Claude Rains in his last performance), is afraid that Jesus might pose a threat to his reign. His conflict with John the Baptist (played by Charlton freaking Heston!) is quite well done and sets the stage for his encounter with Christ. Pilate's role in the Passion is less well developed. Jesus' main "antagonists" however, are the Sanhedrin. As with Pilate there is not really enough set up for that conflict in the film. This is an emerging pattern with this film, it is often unfocused.
Jesus himself, played by Max von Sydow, feels appropriately human at times and divine at others. Unfortunately he is shown mostly at a distance, in wide shots, and his voice is much more of a presence than his face. This succeeds, for the most part, in distancing the audience from Christ which makes the film feel rather cold and unfeeling. The visuals and score, which are rather low key in comparison to other Hollywood epics of the time, add to this feeling. The supporting characters, besides Pilate and John the Baptist, are all rather underdeveloped. This is especially problematic in the case of Judas, who's highly dramatized betrayal and suicide I can't really understand the motivation behind. The usual Zealot motivation is not shown and he does not seem interested in the money. Once again the Blessed Mother is sidelined, only to be seen during the birth of Christ and once more at His death. With that said the film is well paced, there are alot of good visuals, and Alfred Newman's score is quite good though, as I said, far less bombastic and instantly memorable than other epics of this period (King of Kings in particular).
Max von Sydow, though an unconventional choice for Jesus, is very good once you get used to his Swedish accent (and prominent chin). He is able, with the limited material given him, to portray Christ's weak humanity at certain points, His righteous anger at others, and (mostly) His strong authoritative personality. The rest of the casting is somewhat hit or miss. Heston is great as John the Baptist, an obvious choice in retrospect. Donald Pleasence is his usual creepy self as Satan. Claude Rains final performance as Herod is quite strong, with Rains at his most despicable. Jose Ferrer is also solid as Herod Antipas. Sal Mineo and Ed Wynn are great as the lame man and the blind man (respectively) that Jesus' heals, who then become his followers. David McCallum's Judas is decent, if a bit overwrought. Gary Raymond's Peter comes off, mostly, as arrogant. And finally Telly Savalas can't help but be slightly distracting as Pilate. Alot has been made of the distracting celebrity bit roles in this film but I found most of them to be to brief to really distract me.
Overall, like many biblical epics, The Greatest Story Ever Told is a bit of a mess but it's (mostly) strong performances, visuals, and score make up for this to a certain extant.
Score: 7.5/10
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