Hello, everyone! Welcome to yet another session of movie reviewing! Today, we are going back to an era, known as the 1970s, especially the early to mid, maybe late 1970s, when it seemed a little more common for movies to be turned into musicals, for films to be adapted from the original Broadway musicals. Wow, what a great time during both the 1960s, and 1970s, when that seemed to be more of a thing! Today’s film stars a young Victor Garber at the time (whom some of us may known for being in films like Titanic, Legally Blonde, Tuck Everlasting, and films like those), David Haskell, Robin Lamont, Gilmer McCormick, Katie Hanley, and a few other celebrities in the movie business. Oh, and did I forget to mention that today’s musical film just reached it’s 50th anniversary as of recently? Crazy, right! Anyway, let’s discuss the film adaptation of the musical, Godspell, the title of this film as well, and which was released back in 1973!
Plot: A small group of people that live in New York City gather together, and create their interpretation of the Gospels, mainly the Gospel of Matthew. In the process, they each begin to have close relationships with each other, and sing some original songs.
Alright, so what made decide to see Godspell was a couple things. One was that I’ve begun to appreciate musicals more as of almost 20, maybe 25 years ago, sometime like that, and see some of these older live-action musical films that I haven’t seen yet. The second reason was that, when I was in high school, during my sophomore year, my drama, and musical theater put on a show that I was in where we all sang a variety of songs from different Broadway plays, and/or films. Well, during my sophomore year, “Day By Day,” which derived from this film, known as Godspell, was one of those songs that we sang, and performed. Still, I never took time to see this film adaptation of the Broadway play, Godspell until just recently. Oh, and that leads to my third reason for being more eager to see this film. That is the fact that this film reached it’s 50th anniversary as of this year.
That all being said, was this film good? Actually, very much so. Sure, Godspell may have felt a little more like people performing a skit on stage in front of a live audience. Still, because it was done well, had some rather humorous moments, as well as plenty of memorable songs, especially during the beginning of the film, qualities like these, and more, make this film worth one’s time. What’s more, is that this film is really funny at times. Yeah, the way these characters create their interpretations especially of the Gospel of Matthew is creative, funny, and overall memorable as a result. The characters, and the actors, and actresses that played them have really great singing voices. Whoever was in charge of casting for this particular film did a really great job at it. The reason being is because, again, they sang the songs really well. I’m not sure how much auditioning, or even rehearsing needed to be done, be it the lines, or songs, you name it. Well, however long those all took, it all paid off well in the end. As far as casting goes, we have a young Victor Garber, at the time, playing Jesus, David Haskell playing both John The Baptist, and Judas Iscariot (I know that may sound strange for one actor, or actress to play multiple characters at least in a live-action, film, but, as you watch this film, you’ll understand why), Katie Hanley playing a diner waitress, Robin Lamont playing a window shopper, Gilmer McCormick playing a celebrity model, and more. The characters themselves are also really fun, and likable. As for the songs themselves, they are also amazing. Granted, it’s really the songs around the beginning to middle that you’ll probably be singing for weeks, and have stuck in your head, from “Day By Day,” “Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord,” “God Save The People,” “Light Of The World,” and all of those songs. Yes, the songs after the middle are good too. It’s just that the ones that I mentioned that played around the beginning to middle of the film seem to be the more memorable ones. That reminds me, some of you have heard of a musical lyricist by the name of Stephen Schwartz, have you not? Well, first of all, he wrote the songs for both the original Broadway version of this musical, and this film version. He also wrote songs for shows like musicals like The Magic Show, The Baker’s Wife, Children Of Eden, and many more. When he started writing for musical films as well, not only did he write the songs for this film version of Godspell, but, in later years, he also wrote songs for films like Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince Of Egypt (1998), the animation/live-action hybrid, Enchanted (2007), and quite a few other films. He’ll also be writing songs for the upcoming film version if the musical, Wicked, which will apparently be divided into two parts, with Parts One, and 2 being released near the end of 2024, and 2025 respectively. Anyway, although his soundtrack may not be fully memorable in this film, his ability to make some of the most memorable songs in other plays, and films that many of us likely know, and love has increased more, and more over the decades since then. Oh, and one more thing to add! If you like movies that have been made by Columbia Pictures, yet have not seen any of the films from say before the 1980s, 1990s, and onwards, and are curious to see what the Columbia Pictures logo was like with films like this one, then that’s another reason to see this film.
With all that said, are there any downsides? Well, first off, as I mentioned before the songs that came around maybe the third act of this film could have probably been a little more memorable. Additionally, there were one, or two scenes around the beginning of the movie that could have maybe been tweaked with one, maybe two additional drafts. Finally, the third act could have likely been handled a little better, particularly by expanding what might as well have been the climax, and final scenes of this film by an addition 15-20, maybe even 30 minutes. Maybe I’m missing something, but it seemed like that portion of the film felt a little rushed. It was almost like maybe the filmmakers were either a little too eager to get the audience to the end of the film, or some other unknown reason, something like that. Well, you got me!
And that’s my review for 1973’s Godspell. Though it may not quite be the classic film that might reach the same tier as other musical films like The Sound Of Music, Fiddler On The Roof, or some of those movies, Godspell still has plenty to offer. Yes, the songs that Stephen Schwartz wrote for this film could have been slightly more memorable than they were in the end. Still, even this film along with films like Pocahontas, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and The Prince Of Egypt, and others serve as proof Schwartz is very gifted when it comes to writing memorable original songs. It was also great to see the people in this movie reenact some of the Gospels in the New Testament in some of the the most clever, and inventive ways that one could think of. So, if you would like to see a movie with some good songs, and an overall creative way of hearing of the life of Jesus Christ, then all the more reason to see this film. I’ve even heard that people who were once atheists became Christian’s after seeing films like this one. Wow, if a Christian-themed film can even have that kind of an impact, then what a miracle! Anyway, definitely see Godspell, if you never have. It could have been a little better, sure. Still, for what it is, it is most definitely worth your time. So, watch it On Demand, try checking Godspell out from your local library, or whatever else works for you!
Final Grade: B+
P.S. Again, happy 50th anniversary to this movie musical version of Godspell!
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 