70th Anniversary of Cathedral Film''s "I Beheld His Glory"

 

I Beheld His Glory is a TV Movie produced by Cathedral Films and was generally released over 70 years ago on April 5th, 1953 as a episode of Family Theatre. The 55 minute film reportedly cost $100,000 to produce. It fell into public domain status and continues to inspire viewers to this day. The film depicts the events of the resurrection as told by Cornelius a Roman Centurion, (actor George McCready) who will share the Gospel.

The episode was directed by John T. Coyle (1890 - 1970). Coyle also directed several other productions for Cathedral Films including the feature film Day of Triumph (1954), The Living Christ Series (or serial), and The Life of Paul Series (1949). 

Jesus is portrayed by Robert Wilson (1919-1996) [real name Robert Holton] as son of a Texas minister who portrayed Christ for the majority of his film career. 

Snippet of the Rev. James K. Friedrich, from Radio Annual 1953. CLICK HERE for full page from the Media History Digital Library.

Cathedral Films was the ministry of The Rev. James K. Friedrich a prolific Christian film and educational media producer. Friedrich was also the first Protestant minister to produce a feature length Christian Film The Great Commandment (1939). 

As a stand alone film, "I Beheld His Glory" was released to the educational and home film market that same year. Newspaper listings reveal that the film was popular at church screenings around Easter Sunday.

EXTRA LINKS:

Chronicling America "I Beheld His Glory" Search: 1953-1963. - A selection of newspapers from 1953-1963 that list this film as part of church screening schedules: 

A Cathedral Films Easter with the "Living Christ" Series

Cathedral Films was the audiovisual ministry of the Rev. James K. Friedrich a pioneering of Christian filmmaking. The ministry's filmmaking peaked in the 1950s with the production of the "Living Christ" series, a 12 episode dramatization of the life of Christ that aired on television in 1951. According to some sources, it was the first miniseries produced for television. This series may have aired for years on television since it was produced in color. 

10 of the 12 episodes starred Robert Holton a minister's son (sometimes credited as Robert Wilson) as Christ with many reliable Hollywood supporting actors in the cast like Tyler McVey as Simon Peter, silent film veteran Gayne Whitman as Judas Iscariot, Jeanne Bates as Mary (sister of Lazurus) and Mel Marshall as John the Disciple. 

Posted below are the final 3 chapters for Easter Sunday.

Here is Chapter 10 "Retreat and Decision"

Chapter 11 is called "Triumph and Defeat"

The 12th and final chapter is called "Crucifixion and Resurrection".

Vintage Bible Teaching Tools: Cathedral Films' Story Of Jesus, The Calling of the Four

"Cathedral Films Presents, Story of Jesus, Series 2. Cathedral Films, Inc. 

Filmstrip 7 - The Calling of The Four

The Calling of the Four - Slide panel 2

The first frame of the filmstrip. 

After several years of hunting and waiting the Lord has blessed me with a film scanner. Here are a few scans from a vintage educational strip from Cathedral Films, the ministry of the Rev. James Friedrich. "The Story of Jesus" was made available across several sets, and seems to be made of images from their "Living Christ" series. They are more famous today for their short films, and feature films like "The Great Commandment" (1939), but Cathedral provided instructional media for classrooms and Sunday Schools for decades.