The Gospel Blimp

(1967, color) 37m. The Gospel Blimp is the famous 1960s classic comedy that chronicles the wild idea by a group of Christian neighbors to evangelize the whole town by buying a full-blown BLIMP air ship to spread the Gospel from on high. Everything goes haywire in a rollicking series of misadventures. Among their ill-conceived techniques is dropping Bible tracts like bombs on unwary victims and blasting Christian music so loud it pains the ears of citizens and induces dogs to howl. The film adaptation of Christian author Joseph Bayly's popular satire is a sly indictment of non-personal evangelism.



The DVD available from Gospel Films Archive at Christian Movie Classics includes two additional rare Christian shorts:

MR. BIG (1968, b/w) 28m. This imaginative tale of redemption concerns an arrogant wealthy businessman suddenly confronted by his prideful attitude following an arrest for drunken driving. “Mr. Big” is caught in a nightmare world that includes a Twilight Zone-style dream sequence where money and power have no influence. His cellmate, a former “Mr. Big” himself who has become a Christian, reaches out to share his faith in Christ. A cast of familiar Hollywood faces greatly enhances the experience. From Family Films.

FRONT PAGE BIBLE (1959, b/w) 28m. Leading businessmen oppose a young couple, who, after taking over a dying small town newspaper, crusade for local reforms by basing news on Biblical principles. The cast features veteran character actor Charles Lane. From Family Films.

Our sincere thanks to Movieguide for their enthusiastic review of THE GOSPEL BLIMP. Please click to read the review on their website. Thanks for sharing it!

CROSSROADS: "Broadway Trust"

Episode of the TV series CROSSROADS first aired on 11/11/1955. 

Lloyd Bridges plays an honest, hardworking bank clerk who embezzles money in a desperate attempt to pay his wife's hospital bills. With Gene Lockhart as his pastor, and Tina Carver. 

CROSSROADS is a TV anthology series based on true stories from clergy of different denominations. 78 episodes (1955-57) explored deep spiritual themes. It was shown on ABC to both secular and christian audiences the first season on Friday night following "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," and aired in syndication the second season.
 

Both IMDB and Wikipedia report that James Dean appears in a crowd scene or as an elevator operator. This seems unlikely since Dean died five weeks before the air date, and he would not have done such a cameo at the height of his career.

Learn more about the fascinating history of 20th century Christian films and filmmakers at gospelfilmsarchive.com. You can watch over 50 free films and TV shows that are streaming right now at Christian Movie Classics. You can also rent or purchase downloads of 33 other rare and little-known GFA Christian films and TV shows at Christian Cinema. 

A Moody Bible Adventure

KING AHAB - A Moody Bible Adventure 

Mr. Fixit is a masterful storyteller who uses Bible stories to counsel neighborhood kids who drop by his shop with burdens. He demonstrates from his trademark “Red Book” how someone in the Bible handled a similar situation to inspire the kids and portray practical truth. 

The "Moody Bible Adventures" were beautifully filmed in vivid color during the mid-1950s. Each of 26 quarter-hour episodes use live-action mixed with animation to teach a powerful lesson. 

Here is the very first episode, “KING AHAB” in which young Mike would prefer his buddy’s model helicopter rather than the new bike his parents gave him. Mr. Fixit tells Mike the story of King Ahab and illustrates how selfishness can lead to a bad outcome. 



Gospel Films Archive is endeavoring to restore, reissue and preserve the entire output of 20th century Christian filmmaking. More info is at the GFA website.

Many rare and vintage Christian films like this one are available for FREE screening (and no ads) at Christian Movie Classics.

The Blind Beggar of Jerusalem

"The Blind Beggar of Jerusalem" is a 1945 Cathedral Films Production by the Rev. James K. Friedrich and directed by John T. Coyle. 

In this story from the New Testament, the blind beggar gains his sight when Jesus anoints his eyes with mud and commands that he "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." The beggar, no longer blind, is examined by the Temple high priests who attempt to discredit the power of Jesus by demanding the beggar deny the miracle. Jesus is portrayed by actor Nelson Leigh, who plays St. Paul in Cathedral Film's brilliant 12-part "The Life of St. Paul" series.

Gospel Films Archive is endeavoring to restore, reissue and preserve the entire output of 20th century Christian filmmaking, and currently is concentrating on restoring the Cathedral Films library. More info is at the GFA website: gospelfilmsarchive.com.

Celebrity Actors in GFA films

Since movies began, familiar Hollywood faces have contributed remarkable performances in faith-based films. Many appeared in TV episodes of "Crossroads" and "The Christophers," while others made non-commercial films for Cathedral Films, Family Films and similar producers. These films included stories from the Bible, parables of modern Christians facing contemporary problems and missionary work around the world. They were often used in church and Sunday School discussion groups.

Here are 14 brief clips featuring these 18 celebrated actors:

Jack Benny // William Holden
Anne Blyth // Bob Hope
James Cagney // Dick Jones
Mike Connors // DeForest Kelley
Bing Crosby // James Mason
Angie Dickinson // Jerry Mathers
Paul Douglas // Margaret O'Brien
Irene Dunne // Gale Storm
Peter Graves // Loretta Young
Vincent Price // Michael Landon

Thanks for sharing this Gospel Films Showcase blog with your friends and family and also for suggesting they visit and Like facebook.com/gospelfilmsarchive.

Cathedral Films' THE LIVING CHRIST Series

THE LIVING CHRIST Series Production Trailer

Gospel Films Archive has uncovered this rare 11-min production trailer for Cathedral Films excellent twelve-part mini-series "The Living Christ." Pioneer Christian filmmaker Rev. James K. Friedrich and his talented team at Cathedral Films created this ambitious 12-part series of half-hour episodes for church and television audiences. Filmed in color between 1951 and 1957, the anthology dramatizes a true-to-scriptures account of the Life of Jesus Christ - His birth, boyhood, teachings and ministry, death and resurrection.

The series faithfully depicts all key characters and events in the life of the Son of God. Actor Robert Wilson's portrayal of Christ was highly regarded by film critics and audiences alike. Wilson portrayed the role again in both Cathedral's "I Beheld His Glory" (1953) and "Day of Triumph" (1954).

All 12 episodes of "The Living Christ" can be watched for free and with no ads at Christian Movie Classics.

Gospel Films Archive is working with Rev. James K. Friedrich's son to restore, reissue and preserve the entire Cathedral Films archive of shorts, docs and features films. You can read more about this project at the GFA WEBSITE.

Movie Guide Review of PARABLE

MOVIEGUIDE Review of PARABLE

Excellent new review of Rolf Forsberg's PARABLE at Ted Baehr's MOVIEGUIDE website. Please read on site at goo.gl/tNUvJW, or below, and share with friends who might be interested.

Rolf Forsberg's PARABLE is now available with 3 other Forsberg classics -- "PARABLE: Four Films by Rolf Forsberg" -- on DVD and VOD from lostandrare.com/order.htm, where you may read more about Rolf and see clips from all four films.

Summary:

PARABLE is a short holy fool allegory about a mysterious clown who’s redeeming some people in a circus. It’s a very artistic movie that was featured at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Many of the director’s movies, such as THE ANTKEEPER, are direct allegories of the story of Jesus, including this one, but PARABLE has some loose ends.

Review:

PARABLE is a short holy fool story about a mysterious clown who’s redeeming some of the people in a circus. It is a very artistic movie that was featured at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Many of the director’s movies, such as THE ANTKEEPER, are direct allegories of the story of Jesus. PARABLE has some loose ends.

The movie opens with circus wagons passing along a country road. In one of the wagons stopped by the side of the road, a man wakes up to start putting on his makeup. Walking behind the wagons is a clown in white makeup and clothes.

When one of the men gathering water for the elephants collapses from exhaustion, the clown picks up his buckets to carry his burdens to the elephants, and so the circus worker follows him. When one of the attractions features a man in a coat and tie throwing baseballs at a target to dunk an African-American man in a chair over a small pool, the clown takes the place of the African-American man and gets dunked. The African-American man follows him, but the man throwing the balls collects some balls and chases after the clown.

In the sideshow, the clown takes the place of the woman in the box being stabbed with swords. She too follows him, but the magician with the swords and the carnival sideshow barker furiously go after the clown.

In the circus, a puppet master has a real-life Punch and Judy show suspended from trapeze wires with an executioner suspended next to them on the same wires. The puppet frames are clearly three crosses. The clown comes into the circus and starts cleaning and polishing the shoes of the children in the audience, ruining the puppet master’s show.

Chaos ensues and when Punch and Judy and the executioner fall to the ground, the clown is hoisted up onto the cross-like trapeze rigging. The disgruntled baseball thrower, ticket seller, magician, and puppet master all attack the clown as he rises into the air.

PARABLE is shot mostly with music and no dialogue, except during the crucifixion allegory. There is a hint that Jesus Christ is resurrected in the hearts and actions of those he saved. This would conform to the German school of higher criticism. There’s no way of telling whether this was the filmmaker’s intention, but from the rest of his movies, he seems to be very orthodox in his faith.

PARABLE became a very popular, artistic teaching tool for the church and has just been re-released by Vision Video. It is a wonderful movie sure to inspire many discussions about Jesus. It’s also one of those allegorical movies where Christ is portrayed as a Holy Fool or clown, such as GODSPELL, and is highly recommended by MOVIEGUIDE®. You can find out more here.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, V, M) Very strong Christian, biblical worldview where a mysterious circus clown comes to redeem a circus with Christian allusions and symbolism; no foul language; very minor violence when Christ-figure clown is hung from a trapeze and three villains stab at him, throw baseballs at him and otherwise attack him; no sex; no nudity; no alcohol use; no smoking or drugs; and, the Resurrection seems to be suggested as the puppet-master/devil becomes the new clown Christ figure.

In Brief:

PARABLE is a short holy fool allegory from 1964 about a clown redeeming some people in a circus. The movie opens with circus wagons traveling a country road. Walking behind them is a clown. The clown helps a man watering the elephants and takes the place of a black man in a dunking tank and a woman in a magic trick involving swords. The people he helps follow him, but the magician, puppet master and authority figures are furious. In the circus, the puppet master has a real-life Punch and Judy suspended from trapeze wires. The clown serves the audience, and chaos ensues.

PARABLE is shot mostly with music and no dialogue, except during the crucifixion allegory. It’s a very artistic, captivating movie short. It has some loose ends: for instance, there’s a hint that Jesus Christ is just resurrected in the hearts and actions of those he saved. That said, PARABLE is a wonderful movie sure to inspire many discussions about Jesus. It’s also one of those rare allegorical movies where Christ is portrayed as a Holy Fool or clown.

Rolf Forsberg's THE ANTKEEPER

Scene from Rolf Forsberg's THE ANTKEEPER

"The Antkeeper" (1966, 28m) is the story of mankind represented by a gardener, his son, the "wicked one" and a world populated by ANTS. Drawing inspiration from the works of Fellini and Bergman, this is Forsberg's thought provoking 1960s cinematic metaphor with breath-taking imagery and mind-blowing photography by renowned macro cinematographer Robert Crandall (Disney's Living Desert, Secrets of Life, and True Life Adventures).

THE ANTKEEPER is one of four Rolf Forsberg classic films just released on DVD and VOD along with Forsberg's landmark production of PARABLE (for the 1964-65 New York Worlds Fair), ARK and ONE FRIDAY. For trailers, more info and ordering about "PARABLE: Four Films by Rolf Forsberg" visit lostandrare.com/order.htm

Christian Film Classics at CHRISTIAN CINEMA - now you can rent or download 33 rare and little-know Christian films and TV shows at Christian Cinema. All are priced at the low cost of .99 cents rental or 1.99 to purchase and add to your digital video library. Check out posters and trailers here:
christiancinema.com/digital/search?query=gfd

Rolf Forsberg's PARABLE

The distinctive unforgettable works of filmmaker Rolf Forsberg, whose spiritually-based film parables and allegorical shorts have influenced generations, have long been out of circulation. His first film, PARABLE (1964), was the controversial main attraction in the Protestant & Orthodox Pavilion of the 1964 New York World's Fair.

In this SCENE (only) from the restored widescreen PARABLE, the enigmatic clown clad all in white (Christ figure) has set out to redeem the circus (the World). Having taken on the burdens of three circus roustabouts, they follow him into the tent of the fallen Magnus (the Evil One). Magnus was once master of the great "Circus Magnus" but now travels the back roads as "Magnus and His Living Marionettes."

"PARABLE: Four Films by Rolf Forsberg" is available now on DVD and VOD. Included is the complete, restored PARABLE, plus three other Forsberg classics: THE ANTKEEPER, ONE FRIDAY and ARK. More info about Rolf, the films and ordering info is at lostandrare.com/order.htm.

"The concept of a benevolent, all-powerful being that knows all, sees all, and controls all has long provided comfort to a significant cross-section of the masses struggling to make sense of a world that seems out-of-control. To the rest of the human race, the mere notion of such a reality, where unseen hands cruelly pull the strings that determine our collective destiny, embodies the stuff of bad dreams. Over a distinguished, pioneering career producing, writing and directing religious shorts, filmmaker Rolf Forsberg touched both constituencies, tunneling into the psyches of the faithful and non-believers with his outré cinemascapes of heaven, hell, and the fog in-between." - Mark Quigley, UCLA Film & Television Archive

Meet Rolf Forsberg

In 2015 a group of longtime classic film industry associates, friends and admirers of filmmaker Rolf Forsberg joined forces to honor him by respectfully restoring, reissuing and forever preserving his distinguished film legacy. In Feb 2017 production was at last completed on the first volume in the Rolf Forsberg Legacy Collection. Vol 1 showcases the fully restored widescreen version of Forsberg's landmark Parable (1964). Included also are The Antkeeper (1966), Ark (1970) and One Friday (1973).

In Dec. 2012, Parable was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. In June 2013, UCLA paid tribute to Rolf and his film legacy with a special screening of these four films at the Billy Wilder Theater in L.A. The program was called "The Outre World of Rolf Forsberg." Rolf attended as the Guest of Honor.

Mr. Forsberg passed away in Feb. 2017 at the age of 92. "PARABLE: Four Films by Rolf Forsberg" is available now on DVD and VOD.

The director of spiritually-based films PARABLE (1964) and THE ANTKEEPER (1966) introduces film clips from them as well as ARK (1970) and ONE FRIDAY (1973). Rolf Forsberg's parables and allegorical shorts have influenced generations. Now 4 of the filmmaker’s most powerful cinematic creations have been gathered in one collection with insightful introductions by the iconic director himself.

Here you can meet Rolf Forsberg and view clips from Parable, The Antkeeper, Ark and One Friday.
 

READ MORE about Rolf Forsberg and his films.

Gospel Films Archive endeavors to restore and reissue the lost Christian films of the 20th century.

GFA Films at Christian Cinema

Now you can rent or download 33 rare and little-known Christian films and TV shows from the mid-20th century at Christian Cinema.

Titles include classic feature films like The Great Commandment, Reaching From Heaven and Again Pioneers; short films like The Gospel Blimp, Charlie Churchman & the Clowns, A Christian in Communist China; documentaries like Africa and Schweitzer, Korea Crossroads of Destiny, Lincoln Speaks for Himself and Empty Shoes, (doc on missionary to India William Carey). Also, episodes from classic 1950s TV series like This is the Life (Fisher Family) and Crossroads.

Here is a preview of the first 3 GFA releases at Christian Cinema:

All are priced at the low cost of .99 cents rental or 1.99 to purchase and add to your digital video library. Here are previews of 4 films available now from Gospel Films Direct: Africa and Schweitzer, The Gospel Blimp and a This is the Life double feature: Under His Wings and The Little Lie That Grew.

Check out posters and trailers here for all 33 films from Gospel Films Archive that are presently available at: christiancinema.com/digital/search?query=gfd