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Barabbas

  • 19611961
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 2h 17m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
6.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Barabbas (1961)
Barabbas, the criminal that the Jewish leaders induced the populace to vote to set free, so that Christ could be crucified, is haunted by the image of Jesus for the rest of his life.
Play trailer4:26
1 Video
81 Photos
  • Biography
  • Drama
  • History

Barabbas, the criminal that the Jewish leaders induced the populace to vote to set free, so that Christ could be crucified, is haunted by the image of Jesus for the rest of his life.Barabbas, the criminal that the Jewish leaders induced the populace to vote to set free, so that Christ could be crucified, is haunted by the image of Jesus for the rest of his life.Barabbas, the criminal that the Jewish leaders induced the populace to vote to set free, so that Christ could be crucified, is haunted by the image of Jesus for the rest of his life.

IMDb RATING
6.9/10
6.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Richard Fleischer
  • Writers
    • Christopher Fry(screenplay)
    • Pär Lagerkvist(novel "Barabbas")
    • Nigel Balchin(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Anthony Quinn
    • Silvana Mangano
    • Arthur Kennedy
Top credits
  • Director
    • Richard Fleischer
  • Writers
    • Christopher Fry(screenplay)
    • Pär Lagerkvist(novel "Barabbas")
    • Nigel Balchin(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Anthony Quinn
    • Silvana Mangano
    • Arthur Kennedy
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 60User reviews
    • 26Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 3 nominations

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 4:26
    Trailer

    Photos81

    Anthony Quinn at an event for Barabbas (1961)
    Barabbas (1961)
    Richard Burton and Claire Bloom in Alexander the Great (1956)
    Anthony Quinn in Barabbas (1961)
    Anthony Quinn in Barabbas (1961)
    Anthony Quinn in Barabbas (1961)
    Anthony Quinn in Barabbas (1961)
    Anthony Quinn in Barabbas (1961)
    Barabbas (1961)
    Silvana Mangano in Barabbas (1961)
    Valentina Cortese and Norman Wooland in Barabbas (1961)
    Anthony Quinn and Vittorio Gassman in Barabbas (1961)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Anthony Quinn
    Anthony Quinn
    • Barabbasas Barabbas
    Silvana Mangano
    Silvana Mangano
    • Rachelas Rachel
    Arthur Kennedy
    Arthur Kennedy
    • Pontius Pilateas Pontius Pilate
    Katy Jurado
    Katy Jurado
    • Saraas Sara
    Harry Andrews
    Harry Andrews
    • Peteras Peter
    Vittorio Gassman
    Vittorio Gassman
    • Sahakas Sahak
    Norman Wooland
    Norman Wooland
    • Rufioas Rufio
    Valentina Cortese
    Valentina Cortese
    • Juliaas Julia
    Jack Palance
    Jack Palance
    • Torvaldas Torvald
    Ernest Borgnine
    Ernest Borgnine
    • Luciusas Lucius
    Arnoldo Foà
    Arnoldo Foà
    • Joseph of Arimatheaas Joseph of Arimathea
    • (as Arnoldo Foa')
    Michael Gwynn
    Michael Gwynn
    • Lazarusas Lazarus
    Laurence Payne
    Laurence Payne
    • Discipleas Disciple
    Douglas Fowley
    Douglas Fowley
    • Vasasioas Vasasio
    Guido Celano
    Guido Celano
    • Scorpioas Scorpio
    Enrico Glori
    Enrico Glori
    • Man Pleading for Release of Prisoneras Man Pleading for Release of Prisoner
    Carlo Giustini
    Carlo Giustini
    • Officeras Officer
    • (as Carlo Giutini)
    Giovanni Di Benedetto
    • Officeras Officer
    • (as Gianni Di Benedetto)
    • Director
      • Richard Fleischer
    • Writers
      • Christopher Fry(screenplay)
      • Pär Lagerkvist(novel "Barabbas")
      • Nigel Balchin(uncredited)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    In times of great upheaval during Passover in early-first-century Jerusalem, the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate, finds himself before a pressing dilemma. As part of a tradition, the indecisive ruler offers the agitated crowd the choice to have either Jesus of Nazareth or the murderer, Barabbas, released from Roman custody; but, instead, the people demand the release of the thief. Now, as Jesus takes Barabbas' place on the cross, an inhumane act of punishment paves the way for an arduous spiritual journey of faith, leading Barabbas to Sicily's dark sulphur mines, and the blood-soaked soil of Emperor Nero's Coliseum. Will Jesus' sacrifice set Barabbas, the slave, free? —Nick Riganas
    • peplum
    • sword and sandal
    • crucifixion of jesus
    • religious sword and sandal
    • jerusalem
    • 41 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • "The motion picture that begins where the other big ones leave off"
    • Genres
      • Biography
      • Drama
      • History
    • Certificate
      • Approved
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The solar eclipse that takes place during the crucifixion scene was the real thing, an event for which director Richard Fleischer delayed shooting in order to capture the ethereal nature of the phenomenon on 15 February 1961.
    • Goofs
      When Barabbas is sent to the sulfur mines, a guard chains him to another prisoner by hammering closed an iron link shaped like a 'C' with both ends of the 'C' glowing red-hot. The same technique is shown at least one other time. However, it's not the ends of the 'C'-shape that should be glowing red-hot in order to hammer the link closed, it is the middle, where it needs to bend. Cold iron is brittle and needs to be heated to bend or it will fracture.
    • Quotes

      Peter: [Arrested for arson, Barabbas has been brought to the dungeons housing the Christians falsely accused of the act] This burning city is no work of ours. This isn't how the new kingdom is going to be made. You were wrong.

      Barabbas: Who are you to tell me I'm wrong?

      Peter: Many years ago, we spoke together. Do you remember?

      Barabbas: No.

      Peter: You asked me why I was making a net so far from the sea.

      Barabbas: Jerusalem. The street of the potters.

      Peter: You were as mistaken then as you are again now.

      Female Christian: We didn't set fire to the city.

      Male Christian: You've done the work of the wild beasts of the emperor.

      Female Christian: Are you a lunatic?

      Male Christian: It was his fire, you fool. Not God's.

      Barabbas: [the realization of his error sinks in] Why can't God make himself plain? What's become of all the fine hopes, the trumpets, the angels, all the promises? Every time I've seen it end up in the same way, with torments and dead bodies, with no good come of it. Huh? All for nothing.

      Peter: Do you think they persecute us to destroy nothing? Or, for that matter, do you think that what has battered on your soul for twenty years has been nothing? It wasn't for nothing that Christ died. Mankind isn't nothing. In His eyes, each individual man is the whole world. He loves each man as though there were no other.

      Barabbas: I was the opposite of everything he taught, wasn't I? Why did He let Himself be killed instead of me?

      Peter: Because being farthest from Him, you were the nearest.

      Barabbas: I'm no nearer than I was before.

      Peter: Nor any farther away. The truth of the matter is, He's never moved from your side. I can tell you this: there has been a wrestling in your spirit back and forth in your life which, in itself, is knowledge of God. By the conflict you have known Him. I can tell you as well that so it will be with the coming of the kingdom. A wrestling back and forth and a laboring of the world spirit, like a woman in childbirth. We are only the beginning. We won't see the time when the earth is full of the kingdom. And yet, even now, even here, the hour at the end of life, the kingdom is within us. There's nothing more to fear. Upon us, the years will be but many years, many martyrdoms. The ground of men is very stubborn to mature. But men will look back to us in our day, and will wonder, and remember our hope. It is the end of the day. We shall trust ourselves to a little pain, and sleep, saying to world, "Godspeed."

    • Connections
      Featured in The World According to Smith & Jones: The Romans (1987)

    User reviews60

    Review
    Top review
    "Give me Barabbas!"
    BARABBAS rocks. We saw it at the drive-in in the early 60's and the whole family loved it, all nine of us. I'm not always enamored with Anthony Quinn. Sometimes he seems conceited. But as Barabbas he is brilliantly humble, yet powerful. This is by far, his best movie ever. His faces say a thousand words a thousand times. It's as though he was transformed and really became the character, not played it. He is stoic and disturbed, tortured by the crisis within his soul. Barabbas is the man the crowd chose over Christ and this is a fictionalized account of his life after Christ was crucified. Jack Palance gives the second greatest performance of his life as the man who trains, and sometimes kills, gladiators. That evil laugh. That face. What corner of hell gave birth to this man? It's almost as good as his Jack Wilson gunfighter role in Shane. Palance is so mean in Barabbas that all sorts of pacifists would gladly kill him if they had the chance. There are a couple of slow spots but the sets are fantastic and the story is great.

    How did Jack Palance sleep at night?
    helpful•35
    8
    • mikedonovan
    • Apr 19, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 10, 1962 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Barabas
    • Filming locations
      • Arena di Verona, Verona, Veneto, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Dino De Laurentiis Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $6,322,000
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 17 minutes

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