For those who are true Johnny Cash obsessives, I found Cash's 1972 film production "The Gospel Road" about the life of Jesus, on YouTube, in its entirety. (This clip is Part I, but keep clicking at the suggested links and you'll find the rest).
Cash made the movie, I believe, with a lot of his own money. The production is still pretty cheap. I post it because it was filmed entirely in Israel and employs local sites. Sometimes this gets kinda absurd, particularly in the scene where Jesus preaches at Capernaum, which is a real archaelogical site with a 1st century synagogue. Unfortunately, Cash and co. took this very literally, and Jesus goes ahead and preaches at a ruin of a 1st century synagogue rather than what that synagogue would have looked like in his own time, aka an intact structure. It's a bit like making a movie about gladiators and filming it in the ruins of the Colosseum rather than a recreation of what the structure would have looked like in Roman times. Also, the wedding at Qana is portrayed as a Jewish Yemeni celebration replete with a rendition of Im Nin'alu which was written in the 19th century. Finally, the movie is populated by extras straight out of Israel circa 1973 - ridiculous sideburns galore. But beside that, great great music albeit heavy-handed religious messages. The film was circulated among churches in the U.S. and played for youth groups, from what I've read. This was the same year as both Godspell and Jesus Christ, Superstar so J.C. was having a good year, I'd say.
Oh, and Mary Magdalene, played by June Carter Cash. Enjoy!
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