Great Film overall

An Exercise In Nonsense

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

An amazing movie that conveys a lot of Bible truth. Robert Wilson was the Bruce Marchiano of the 50s. This is a movie about perspective that follows how different characters viewed Jesus and how He impacted their lives. The Virginian's Lee J Cobb gave this movie a wild West feel more or less. The introduction is amazing, you know Jesus is talking to you staring with "Listen" and ending with "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." I also love how this movie fleshes out Dismas, the thief on the cross. The first two scenes with Dismas are funny, the third is a powerful portrayal of God's grace. Judas is portrayed as a schemer trying to manipulate Jesus. All the main and supporting characters really stand out.

I had the pleasure of attending a seminar this weekend given by the producer's son, Father Jim Friedrich. The seminar was "Jesus in the Movies." This film was blacklisted in the 1950s, so it was not widely seen. It is quite true to the scriptures. Christ looks "older" than 33, in fact,t he whole film has a very 1950s feel to it. But it is quite enjoyable. There is an especially wonderful scene between Mary Magdalene and her servant. Lee J Cobb and Mike Connors give very good performances. In the opening scene, the first word is said by Jesus, "Listen." It is powerful and compelling. This film is not easy to find, but worth looking for.

It is an irritation to read reviews of films about the life of Christ, whether on IMDb or anywhere else: most of the reviewers are ignoring everything distinctive about the film, focusing on an opportunity to deliver clever put-downs of "biblical extravaganzas." Or they're getting this film mixed up in their minds with other films on the same theme (e.g., one IMDb reviewer compliments the film for never showing Christ's face, showing that he has it confused with Ben Hur). A few realize the merits of Day of Triumph: its take on Judas is a very interesting one indeed, and the parts of Judas, Nicator and Zadok are not only brilliantly acted but brilliantly written. This film's Pontius Pilate is rather interesting too, in fact this is the second-best Pilate I have seen (after Telly Savalas in The Greatest Story Ever Told); he actually talks and acts like the racist colonial administrator Pilate was: "Sabbaths! Passovers! These Jews waste more time on one god than we do on a hundred!", he exclaims after being told that the Jewish priests want to talk to him but refuse to pollute themselves by entering a pagan's house during a holy time, so he has to come to the door to see them instead!). Exactly as in the case of Greatest Story Ever Told, there are some deftly dramatic and original touches; and also as in that case, there are loads of clichés to excite the derisive hoots of folk who are all set up to trash a "biblical spectacular". Yes, I too found the Jesus of this film rather bland and conventional, but (despite some of the comments posted on this site) Judas was certainly not "melodramatic". Indeed, I wish we could have a film combining this Judas with Max von Sydow's earthy Jesus. Altogother, an uneven film--but then, villains are always easier to make interesting than heroes are.

"Day of Triumph", a low-budget, church-sponsored film about the life of Christ, was the first Technicolor, English-speaking sound film in which one actually saw and heard an actor playing Jesus Christ (whose face was never shown in such films as "Ben-Hur" or "The Robe".) Once shown on TV annually, it now seems even worse than ever. Filmed on cheesy-looking sets, "Day of Triumph" features unknown Robert Wilson as a Jesus who looks like somebody made up for a small town religious pageant. His performance is completely forgettable and makes Jeffrey Hunter in "King of Kings" look like Laurence Olivier (not that Hunter was bad at all in "King of Kings"; in fact he was quite good; he just wasn't an Olivier).Noted actor Lee J.Cobb, who gets more screen time than anyone as Zarok, confidant of Judas, and a sort of well-meaning high priest, makes a heroic effort under the circumstances, demonstrating how a great actor can bring class to a religious film that looks and sounds like a cheap B-movie. Judas is played like a villain in a silent melodrama (his "I have sinned!" after his realization that Christ is to be crucified takes first prize for melodramatic overacting) and everyone else is just plain bland. One wonders what director Irving Pichel could have been thinking.