Christopher Fry (Playwright): 2 All-Star Big-Screen Biblical Epics

Christopher Fry (playwright, screenwriter): Fry contributed – with no screen credit – to the screenplay of William Wyler’s Oscar-winning blockbuster Ben-Hur and received solo credit for the scripts of two biblical epics, Barabbas and The Bible in the Beginning….

Christopher Fry (playwright, screenwriter): Works staged by Gielgud, Olivier; for the movies, wrote 2 all-star biblical epics

Generally known for his stage work, poet and playwright Christopher Fry occasionally wrote for the movies in the 1950s and 1960s. He received screen credit on a mere three titles: The British-made period musical The Beggar’s Opera, and the big-budget international co-productions Barabbas and The Bible in the Beginning…, both revolving around biblical stories and featuring all-star casts.

Additionally, Fry was one of the uncredited contributors to the screenplay of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s eventual Oscar-winning blockbuster Ben-Hur.

Below is a brief overview of Christopher Fry’s stage and film career.

Stage: The Lady’s Not for Burning & Venus Observed

Initially a schoolteacher, Fry began his stage career in the early 1930s, directing and acting in plays for a repertory company he had founded. One notable event: The English premiere of George Bernard Shaw’s A Village Wooing in 1934.

Fry began writing plays around that time, but would become a major name only after World War II, during which he was a conscientious objector, serving in the Non-Combatant Corps.

First staged in March 1948 at London’s Arts Theatre, the late Middle Ages-set romantic comedy The Lady’s Not for Burning, written in verse, was directed by actor Jack Hawkins, and starred Alec Clunes and Sheila Manahan as, respectively, a war veteran who wants to die and an accused witch who doesn’t (especially at the stake).

The play’s success led to a long run at the Globe Theatre, under the direction of John Gielgud and Esme Percy, and with Gielgud and Pamela Brown as the two leads, in addition to Richard Burton and Claire Bloom in supporting roles.

First performed in January 1950 at the St James’s Theatre, Venus Observed, another romantic comedy written in verse, starred the theater’s manager, Laurence Olivier, as the Duke of Altair, Denholm Elliott as his son, and Heather Stannard as the woman they both want to marry. Rachel Kempson and Brenda de Banzie had supporting roles.

Olivier’s relatively short-lived 1952 Broadway production of Venus Observed – 86 performances – starred Rex Harrison, his wife Lilli Palmer, and John Merivale, the future companion of Olivier’s then wife, Vivien Leigh.

To date, neither The Lady’s Not for Burning nor Venus Observed has been transferred to the big screen.^[1]

Movies: The Beggar’s Opera & Ben-Hur

For the movies, Christopher Fry wrote the narration – spoken by Laurence Olivier – for Michael Waldman’s 1953 Academy Award-nominated documentary A Queen Is Crowned, about the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

That same year, Fry received “additional dialogue” credit on the film version of John Gay’s period musical comedy The Beggar’s Opera, directed by newcomer Peter Brook from an adaptation by Denis Cannan, and starring Laurence Olivier, Hugh Griffith (as the beggar), and Dorothy Tutin.

Although the color production has its elements of noteworthiness – Olivier, in his only big-screen musical, sings in his own voice – it was largely considered an artistic letdown.

Later in the decade, Fry was one of the many writers who contributed to the screenplay of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s convoluted production of Ben-Hur, directed by William Wyler.

When finally released in 1959, the semi-historical, Christian-tinged epic starring Charlton Heston became a sensational critical and commercial hit, eventually winning 11 Oscars, including Best Picture. However, like fellow contributors Gore Vidal and Maxwell Anderson, Fry was not credited for his participation in the project; instead, Karl Tunberg received solo credit and an Oscar nomination.

All-star biblical epics: Barabbas & The Bible in the Beginning…

In the 1960s, Christopher Fry received solo screen credit on two all-star biblical epics – both of them international Dino de Laurentiis productions that divided critics and failed to entice audiences in enough numbers to justify their price tags: Barabbas and The Bible in the Beginning….

Based on Pär Lagerkvist’s 1950 novel, Richard Fleischer’s Barabbas (1961 in Italy; 1962 in the U.S.) – initially budgeted at a reported $10 million – turned out to be no Ben-Hur^[2] despite an Oscar-pedigreed cast that included two-time winner Anthony Quinn (Viva Zapata!, 1952; Lust for Life, 1956) as the biblical thief, Ernest Borgnine, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Palance, and Katy Jurado, in addition to de Laurentiis’ wife Silvana Mangano, Harry Andrews, Vittorio Gassman, and Valentina Cortese.

In his review of Barabbas, the New York Times’ Bosley Crowther lamented:

“… [W]hat there is of simple beauty and possible symbolic point in Pär Lagerkvist’s haunting fable, upon which the film is based, either has been missed or is undeveloped in the uncertain script of Christopher Fry, and the spiritual subtlety of it has been buried under 10 tons of spectacle.”

A costly – $15–$18 million – endeavor, John Huston’s The Bible in the Beginning… (1966) features the director himself (as Noah), Ava Gardner (Sarah), Michael Parks (Adam), Stephen Boyd (Nimrod), George C. Scott (Abraham), Peter O’Toole (the three angels), Richard Harris (Cain), Franco Nero (Abel), Gabriele Ferzetti (Lot), Eleonora Rossi Drago (Lot’s wife), and newcomer Ulla Bergryd (Eve).

An eventual money-loser despite solid box office receipts, The Bible in the Beginning… was Christopher Fry’s final big-screen effort.

Television: The Brontë sisters revisited

From the late 1950s to the late 1970s, Christopher Fry would sporadically write for television.

Examples include the miniseries The Brontës of Haworth (1973), featuring Rosemary McHale as Emily Brontë, Vickery Turner as Charlotte Brontë, and Ann Penfold as Anne Brontë; and an adaptation of Anne Brontë’s 1848 novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1968–1969), featuring Janet Munro, Bryan Marshall, and Corin Redgrave.

Lastly, The Lady’s Not for Burning has had two notable television transfers to date:

• In 1974, as a televised play starring Richard Chamberlain and Eileen Atkins. Joseph Hardy directed.
• In 1987, as a made-for-TV movie starring Kenneth Branagh and Cherie Lunghi. Julian Amyes directed.

Endnotes

‘The lady’s not for turning’

^[1] Curiously, The Lady’s Not for Burning has been adapted to the world of big politics.

At the 1980 Conservative Party Conference, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave a speech – written by playwright Ronald Millar – featuring the line “the lady’s not for turning.”

The “turning” in question referred to calls that the libertarian PM, known as “The Iron Lady,” make a political U-Turn, as the United Kingdom had entered a deep recession and unemployment had soared, eventually topping 3 million people.

Barabbas budget

^[2] Barabbas’ reported budget via Brian Hannan’s “Behind the Scenes: Barabbas (1961)” at The Magnificent 60s.

Among his sources, the author includes a Feb. 15, 1961, Variety article titled “Barabbas Budget over $10,000,000.”

That publicized figure, of course, should be taken with a sizable grain of salt.

In the U.S., Barabbas ultimately earned an estimated (via Variety) $2.9 million in rentals (the percentage of the box office gross that goes to the producers/distributors) – a modest sum for a big-screen epic, whether or not it actually cost $10 million.

Christopher Fry image ca. 1960s.

“Christopher Fry (Playwright): 2 All-Star Big-Screen Biblical Epics” last updated in April 2024.