JESUS OF NAZARETH

The provenance of this epic, reverential dramatization of Jesus's brief life is unknown. Nor does the publisher know who composed the original music or who plays which part. This reviewer recognizes June (Rocky the Squirrel) Foray and Paul (Boris Badinoff) Frees, but Orson Welles, who SUPPOSEDLY narrates, does not appear. The production sounds as if made in Hollywood thirty to forty-five years ago for LP release, and that more money than skill went into it. Dripping with bathos, melodrama, and unctuous Biblese, this curiosity best suits unsophisticated listeners and old-time-radio enthusiasts. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]