Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration

This sort of drama is the sort of film I doubt you would ever seen made nowadays. It's from a religious show called "Family Theatre" and is a retelling of the story of the burial and resurrection of Jesus. It's unusual for two main reasons--it features quite a few famous actors (such as Gene Lockhart and Leif Erickson) of the day and it begins in Korea during the war and the story is told by the Chaplain to his men.

The manner in which the story is told is quite minimalistic--with few sets and at a relatively low cost. However, in spite of this, it doesn't come off as cheap--just different than the typical film about Jesus--without the huge spectacle and angelic music blaring. Instead, it's direct yet reverent. Sure, occasionally it's a tad heavy-handed in the dialog, but in general it's quite good and still watchable in this more jaded generation.

By the way, this was sponsored by Catholic organizations, hence the show's emphasizing Mary--calling her 'Holy Mother' and the like during this recreation of the days following Jesus' death.