JESUS in the MOVIES - From Silent Cinema to today

Explore the history of Jesus in cinema — from the first silent films to modern Biblical dramas.
This video takes you on a journey through more than 100 years of Jesus movies, showing how each era reimagined the life of Christ on screen.

Discover powerful, moving, and sometimes controversial films about Jesus, from The King of Kings to The Passion of the Christ.
See how different actors — from Robert Powell to Jim Caviezel — have portrayed Jesus with reverence, emotion, and humanity.

If you love Christian cinema, Catholic culture, and the art of faith in film, this is your guide to the most memorable portrayals of Christ ever made.

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Note / Correction:
After further review, I found that the first two scenes appearing between 0:28 and 0:42 are not from From the Manger to the Cross (1912). Only the third sequence in that segment is actually from the original Kalem Company production.

This was kindly pointed out by a viewer, and I verified it by checking the official public-domain copy available on Wikimedia Commons:
🔗 From the Manger to the Cross (1912) – Wikimedia Commons

The video was originally edited using a YouTube version that turned out to include footage from other, unidentified sources. Unfortunately, the video cannot be replaced at this stage, but this note serves as a clarification and correction.

Many thanks again to the viewer for their careful observation and help in setting the record straight.

List of movies:

FROM THE MANGER TO THE CROSS – 1912
Robert Henderson-Bland

CIVILIZATION – 1916
George Fisher

INTOLERANCE – 1916
Howard Gaye

BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST – 1925
Claude Payton

THE KING OF KINGS – 1927
H. B. Warner

GOLGOTHA – 1935
Robert Le Vigan

THE ROBE – 1953
Donald C. Klune

DAY OF TRIUMPH – 1954
Robert Wilson

BEN-HUR – 1959
Claude Heater

KING OF KINGS – 1961
Jeffrey Hunter

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW – 1964
Enrique Irazoqui

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD – 1965
Max von Sydow

GODSPELL – 1973
Victor Garber

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR – 1973
Ted Neeley

JESUS OF NAZARETH – 1977
Robert Powell

JESUS – 1979
Brian Deacon

THE DAY CHRIST DIED – 1980
Chris Sarandon

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST – 1988
Willem Dafoe

THE VISUAL BIBLE: MATTHEW – 1993
Bruce Marchiano

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN – 2003
Henry Ian Cusick

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST – 2004
Jim Caviezel

THE PASSION – 2008
Joseph Mawle

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN (LUMO PROJECT) – 2014
Selva Rasalingam

SON OF GOD – 2014
Diogo Morgado

LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT – 2015
Ewan McGregor

MARY MAGDALENE – 2018
Joaquin Phoenix