The Star of Bethlehem (1956)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Pretty bland animated short tells the story that I'm sure most people are already going to know going in. While watching this film I kept wondering if perhaps it was produced to try and cash in on the success of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS from Cecil B. DeMille. I will admit that I liked the approach that director Vivian Milroy took in the visual style but this still isn't enough to make up for the bland storytelling. The actual look of the film was quite unique as everything in the background was in color as was any actual non-living object. The actual humans were always shown in shadow only and this mixed against the colorful backdrop actually made for a good looking picture. The problem with the short is that it simply doesn't feature any exciting storytelling. The actual story is going to be familiar to most so it doesn't tell us anything in a new fashion or an original way. Even at just 10-minutes the film drags along and becomes tiresome after a while.
