Please, when you want to make a biblical movie, kindly consult Cecil B. DeMille or William Wyler. This picture, though not very good, had the misfortune to come out the same year as "Ben-Hur" did. All the biblical names are merely cast about haphazardly-Judean, Arab, etc.Howard Keel shed his beautiful singing voice to take the star role in this inferior production.Susan Kohner must have thought she was Sarah Jane, the great part she had the same year in "Imitation of Life," where she was rewarded with an Oscar nomination.The picture is one big mess with all the characters being thrown at you at once, with the exception of the usual diabolical Herbert Lom and Martha Hyer, his second wife, and the embodiment of evil. In her carriage scene, Hyer romps around with her nose in the air, while casting an evil-type look that reminded me of Agnes Moorehead.This is supposedly a film of belief, redemption, punishment and anything else we can think of. It's a failure on all accounts.

Howard Keel says in his posthumously published memoirs that he grabbed the part of Simon Peter in The Big Fisherman to prove his versatility as an actor. Musicals were pretty much done by that time and he was free of his MGM contract. He got the role after John Wayne turned the part down. That one was an eye opener I have to say. My conception of St. Peter has always been that of a big hale and hearty man used to working in the outdoors. We see an older Peter in Quo Vadis with Finlay Currie and now we have a younger one in Keel.Still I can't believe that Frank Borzage wanted John Wayne. After coming off that disaster in The Barbarian and the Geisha, the Duke wisely turned this one down. Keel does give a good performance as Peter. Other than Keel the player best remembered for this film is Ray Stricklyn as the evil young Arab prince.It's good to remember that this is a fictional story about a biblical figure though some scenes of events described in the Bible are in the film. Nevertheless there are some plot flaws. Peter goes among the Arabs here and this was six centuries before Mohammed came on the scene. If you were to follow the logic of the film, the Arab people would have been converted to Christianity. Now maybe it would have saved us all a lot of bloodshed over the centuries had they, still even in a work of fiction that's a bit much to swallow.Keel liked making the film and had high hopes for it. Unfortunately it ran up against Ben-Hur another filmed biblically based novel this time with the protagonist being a fictional character. Additionally The Big Fisherman got lost somewhere in the corporate doings of Buena Vista Films and the Walt Disney studio. Back in the Fifties, Buena Vista did distribute films not necessarily with the Walt Disney brand on them. It's been seen on television a few times, I saw it again about 12 years ago. It should be seen in theaters though. Like Ben-Hur something is lost even with a letter box version.But can you imagine John Wayne as St. Peter? Turn that one over in your minds.

This was a great film, and it ought to be put on DVD. I remember seeing it and thinking that it was far better than 'Quo Vadis' and many other of the religiously connected biopics, and much better than things like 'Jesus of Nazareth' which I have seen more recently. It is terrible that things like this should become unavailable for people to see, and I for one would very much like to see it again. There is less sloppiness and sentimentality than in some of the early biopics, and lots of good actors acting well. I do really think that this one should be pushed hard and someone persuaded to put it on DVD. I think it was influenced by the novel by Sholem Asch, who was a great novelist about various Jewish and Christian religious figures.

I saw this film as a child with my Mom. What I can remember of it was just so beautiful. Howard Keel had such a wonderful and powerful voice. I could listen to him sing anything. The seen of him singing by his boat is the one that sticks out in my mind the most. The colors were so beautiful and bright as I remember them. I thought this film was a musical, but I see it listed as a drama. Can anyone tell me why? I wish I could get a copy of this fine film for my Mom who is now in her mid seventies. So we could watch it again. I think it would be so great to see this movie with my daughter, who loves all kinds of movies, and some of my granddaughters. This is a real family film for the whole family.