THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY. MORNING, MARCH 13, 1921.
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Ambitious
Motion Picture
Bible" Which
Government Helped
Produce Said to
Be Disapproved
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Seventy-Reel
of "The Holy
the Italian
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Eve Eating the Fatal Apple.
AN extraordinary disagreement has
arisen between. Ilia ; Holiness the
Pope - and the Italian Government :
over a moving: picture called ?The I Holy
Bible." Tiiis is planned to show the
salient features of the sacred Story; from
the Creation onward. j
His Holiness the Pope, it is said, has for
bidden Catholics to view the picture on the 1
ground that it is immodest in parts and
not designed . to help the Interests ot
religion. On the other hand, the Italian
Government has subsidized the production
and is endeavoring tp promote it in every;
-way in order to demonstrate the superior
ity of Italian films over those of other
countries, and especially of France.
. The Italian Government and the I Pope
have, of course, always been more or less
in a state of antagonism, and this has
now broken out anew on the very, up-to-date
subject of moving pictures.
It fa understood that the Pope dees not
by any means consider the picture as alto
gether' bad, but that a few parts of it are
of such a character as to make. It improper
to produce It with the pretence ot a reli
gious motive. . :
What offended His Holiness especially
was the manner in which Adam and Eve
were represented in the Garden of Eden.
Of course, it was necessary to j ;
display our first parents as un
dressed prior to the fall, because
the Bible telle us distinctly that
that was their condition and
says that they "were naked and
were not ashamed." ,
But, of course, there are dif
ferent ways . of representing
nudity. According to some cri
tics, Adam and Eve display
themselves in this film in a bold
' and unblushing manner that
makes "September Morn" seem,
a model of modesty by compari
son. -Moreover the woman
chosen to play Eve Is of a very
- fleshly type. It is also objected
that there is an unnecessary
amount of nudity in subsequent
ecenes ot the film.
The controversy - is a very
peculiar one, because when the
film was in ' preparation it
was understood that the Pope
warmly approved ot it as well
calculated to teach . the sacred
story to the people in Italy and
other countries, and thus com
bat the modern tendency to
neglect religion and religious
history, which has caused His
much anxiety. The Impression
Pope approved the film was
Dasea on a quannea approval given by a
minor official at the Vatican when the
project Was first described to'hlm.;- '
When the Pope actually witnessed a pri
vate exhibition o( the picture he was hor
rified at many of the scenes. It la stated
that the one which displeased His Holi
ness is that which shows Eve eating tho
apple the fruit of the tree that gave to
man knowledge ot good and evil. , ; -
-me .rope requested tne mm comoanv
destroy the picture, but this ' they r
Dying
Victims
of the
. Ten
JPlagues
of
Egypt.
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The Birth of Eve in the Garden of Eden, Created from the KUj
of Adam, According to the Bible Narrative of the
and Story, of the Creation. ;
Miserable Sinners . . . , . -
- c --! ot Babel, In Mesopotamia they employe!
on the Pinnacle of .
a Mountain aa the -' .
' Great Flood Risea
" Around Them to
Destroy Them,
While Noah and
Hit Family Are
Safe in the Ark.
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Adam and Eve Listening to the Voice of
God in the .Garden of Eden, Unclothed
and Unashamed. ;
the Garden After Eye
t .
Holiness
that the
probably
to
fused to do. He then issued his order
disapproving the picture. After that
the company made some modifications
In the film, but these, it is reported, do
tot yet satisfy the Holy rather, ilia man
date will undoubtedly have a grave effect in
deterring many pious persons from seeing
the film, but, on the other hand, it may
result in greatl;- Increasing the attendance
of others.
The production of the film cost 5,000,000
lire, or nearly ?1.000,00(X in pre-war money.
A large part ot this money is said to
have been advanced by the Italian Gov
ernment, which desired this to be . the
most elaborate, Impressive and stupendous
film ever produced, and thus promote and
advertise the Italian film industry through
out the world. The Italian Government de
sired especially to counteract the effect
created by "Atlantlde," a film based on
Pierre Benoit's new book and aided by
the French Government. The French film
had been remarkable tor the amount of
money and effort spent oa "tocatioa," The
X Xlese-Up ;
the Face of
After
Had Murdered His Brother Abel.
producers went to
the Sahara Desert
tcmake this film,
and one of the '
most Remarkable '
scenes was laid in -a
volcanic crater
in that region.
Other scenes
showed thousands
of wild desert
Arabs, .deadly 'W-Ti
sandstorms, wild
terrors and won- Adn nd Eve in
ders ot the dasert Had Tasted of the Tree of Knowledge,
In creating the ; Clothed in Fig Leaves,
film of The Holy ' .
ciDie" tne Italians carried their operations
to the forbidden, almost unexplored wilder
ness of Sinai, and to many other scenes of
the Bible story. They located a large part
of the story upon Mount Glnai, where Jeho
vah spoke to Hoses and grave him the Ten
Commandments. Other parts of the picture
were taken in Egypt, Palestine and
Babylonia. . f . ,
" The Italians and their Government delib
erately set out to beat the French film
makers. They hired the inhabitants of en
tire towns, to take part In certain scenes en
tire tribes of Arabs, kings and - chiefs, and
all the member of certain ancient monas
teries and convents in the East. They filmed
camels, lions, snakes and many other wild
and domestic animals of the Orient.
In one scene the building oj the, Tgwpc
over 20,000 actors. In the entire film mora
than 100,000 actors were engaged.
The entire original film consists of 70J
Italian reels, 35,000 feet In length.
' After all the effort and money that have
been expended on this film it will seem to
many very unfortunate that the producers
could not make It free from grave objec
lion! The film naturally starts with the crea
tion of the world, which is represented in
a very entertaining and Instructive man
ner. After that we soon come to the epi
sode. of Adam and Eve. The modern pub-
lie see their first ancestor growing out of
' the dust under the hand of the Almighty. ;
Soon after that comes the creation ot
Eve, and here occurs, perhaps, the flr3t I
ground for criticism. While Adam is lying
in a deep sleep the Creator takes one of ;
his ribs and makes a companion for him
; In the form of woman. I
Eve is created perfectly full grown and S
well-developed. She stands up boldly In I
the sunlight clad only In her long golden ;
hair.; After that there ere a number of
very picturesque and idyllic scenes in the ;
Garden of Eden. : v
- The spectator sees Adam and Eve listen- ;
Ing to the voice ot the Lord, telling them :
that they must not eat ot the fruit of "the I
tree which is in the midst of the Garden.''
The serpent then tempts Eve and she eats '
of the apple and gives it to her husband.
This is a scene which has come In for'
considerable criticism because Eva
munches the apple as if she were thor-;
oughly enjoying it. Instead of behaving in :
a furtive manner as a woman would do !
who. knew that she was committing a for :
bidden act. j
Another Bible episode which gave occa- -slon
for much local cohor was the building; !
of the Tower of BabeL !
Thousands of primi-
tlve men, real Arabs, '
gather around at
stony space In Meso
potamia and discuss ;
the building of a;
tower whose ton
shall , reach to ; hea-1
ven. They go to
work and raise tip;
the mighty tower,
one floor after an-i
other. When the
workmen have car-;
ried it tp a dizzy;
height the" confusion.!
of tongues falls upon
them and they an
scattered. I
The destruction oC
Godom and Gomor
rah Is the next speo'
tacular episode. ;
The oppression of;
the Israelites by;
Phsraoh, the ten!
plagues sent to af
flict the Egyptians
and the Exodus ot i
the Israelites under ;
the leadership r i
Moses are pictured. '
One of the most am-:
bitlous scenes in the) I
entire film la that I
which represents the miraculous passage)
of the Israelites through the Red Sea and '
the drowning of Pharaoh's pursuing host. I
This part of the film was actually made
on the shores ot the Red Sea.
The wandering of the Israelites for forty S
years in the wilderness and the desert of
Sinai furnish another opportunity for im
pressive local atmosphere.. The worship:
of the golden calf, Moses smiting the rock
to bring forth water, the pillar of fire, the I
.scenes upon Mount Sinai are all repre- I
sented with great realism. The producers J
say that they made the greatest effort of
all and suffered the greatest hardships in l
producing this part of the film. They ?
penetrated the barren wilderness of SinalJ
where there is practically no water or
which a white man can live.
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C) MX. XaUniUoul Tutu Struct la.