Michael York Playing John the Baptist

If you are, like me, ready for the scrap heap, you may remember Franco Zefferelli's miniseries Jesus of Nazareth.  This was presented on national TV so long ago thst it needed no trigger warnings or transvestite apostles.  We started watching it again.

Lots of prominent actors of the time were in it: Christopher Plummer, Peter Ustinov, Olivia Hussey, James Earl Jones.  Michael York's portrayal of John the Baptist as passionate,  wild-eyed berator of immorality and hypocrisy is just astonishing to watch.  Robert Powell's Jesus is also excellent but York's performance stands out among an impressive collection of actors.

The greatest catastrophe of movies about Jesus must be 1963's The Greatest Story Ever Told where John Wayne delivers: "Surely, this must have been, the Son of God," in one of the least persuasive lines ever recorded.