The Thorn (also known as The Greatest Story Overtold and The Divine Mr. J) is a 1971 American comedy film written, edited, directed and produced by Peter Alexander, and starring John Hassberger and Bette Midler. A religious satire, its release was legally challenged on grounds that its title and advertising deceptively exploited Midler's fame.
All of these actors were unknown and had no other film credits, with the exception of Midler, who was just beginning to build her singing career, had acted in a Broadway musical, and had briefly played a lead role in the off-Broadway musical Salvation in 1969. Midler had a brief appearance as a boat passenger in the 1966 film Hawaii.
Productionedit
Developmentedit
Originally conceived as The Greatest Story Overtold, an irreverent spoof of the 1965 epic film The Greatest Story Ever Told, the project was influenced by the increase in popularity and profitability of Christian evangelism. Peter McWilliams wrote, produced, directed and edited the film under the pseudonym Peter Alexander. He went on to write a broad range of mostly self-published, popular books.
Filmingedit
Shot in 16mm on a shoestring budget, the crew included Paul Josephson on camera and lighting, Craig Reynolds and Jay Cassidy on camera, and Jon Duff on sound recording. Filming primarily took place in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan from 1970 to 1971.
Release, marketing and legal challengeedit
Poster for premiere showing on 1974 May 24 in New York City
After its premiere showing in Detroit, the film remained underground until it was released by National Entertainment Corp. as The Divine Mr. J a few years later, to capitalize on Midler's growing fame as "The Divine Miss M." Its premiere showing under the new title at the Festival Theater in New York City on May 24, 1974, was picketed by Midler's agent, who also challenged the film's title and marketing in court.[2] The film received very poor reviews[3] and soon closed.
The Divine Mr. J was re-released by Rochelle Films, Inc. in 1980 after Bette Midler's starring role in The Rose.[4]
^. Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. 2011. Archived from the original on May 26, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
^Mair, George (1995). Bette: An Intimate Biography of Bette Midler. Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane Press/Carol Publishing Group. pp. 96–98. ISBN9781559722728.
^"Movie Review: The Divine Mr. J at Festival Theater". movies.nytimes.com. May 25, 1974. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
^. betteontheboards.com. 1979. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
thorn, film, thorn, also, known, greatest, story, overtold, divine, 1971, american, comedy, film, written, edited, directed, produced, peter, alexander, starring, john, hassberger, bette, midler, religious, satire, release, legally, challenged, grounds, that, . The Thorn also known as The Greatest Story Overtold and The Divine Mr J is a 1971 American comedy film written edited directed and produced by Peter Alexander and starring John Hassberger and Bette Midler A religious satire its release was legally challenged on grounds that its title and advertising deceptively exploited Midler s fame The ThornVHS cover c 1984Directed byPeter AlexanderWritten byPeter AlexanderBased onNew Testamentby various authorsProduced byPeter AlexanderStarringJohn Hassberger Bette MidlerCinematographyPaul JosephsonEdited byPeter AlexanderProductioncompanyMagnum EntertainmentDistributed byNational EntertainmentRelease date1971 1971 Detroit Running time93 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3 1 Development 3 2 Filming 4 Release marketing and legal challenge 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksPlot editThis article needs a plot summary Please add one in your own words July 2019 Learn how and when to remove this message Cast editJohn Hassberger as Jesus Christ Bette Midler as the Virgin Mary James Harrison as Joseph John Greenburg as John the Baptist Fred LaBour as the Angel Fred Richard Pollard as Rabbi Gabriel Diana David as Salome Jack Castor and Chi Chi as queens 1 All of these actors were unknown and had no other film credits with the exception of Midler who was just beginning to build her singing career had acted in a Broadway musical and had briefly played a lead role in the off Broadway musical Salvation in 1969 Midler had a brief appearance as a boat passenger in the 1966 film Hawaii Production editDevelopment edit Originally conceived as The Greatest Story Overtold an irreverent spoof of the 1965 epic film The Greatest Story Ever Told the project was influenced by the increase in popularity and profitability of Christian evangelism Peter McWilliams wrote produced directed and edited the film under the pseudonym Peter Alexander He went on to write a broad range of mostly self published popular books Filming edit Shot in 16mm on a shoestring budget the crew included Paul Josephson on camera and lighting Craig Reynolds and Jay Cassidy on camera and Jon Duff on sound recording Filming primarily took place in a suburb of Detroit Michigan from 1970 to 1971 Release marketing and legal challenge edit nbsp Poster for premiere showing on 1974 May 24 in New York City After its premiere showing in Detroit the film remained underground until it was released by National Entertainment Corp as The Divine Mr J a few years later to capitalize on Midler s growing fame as The Divine Miss M Its premiere showing under the new title at the Festival Theater in New York City on May 24 1974 was picketed by Midler s agent who also challenged the film s title and marketing in court 2 The film received very poor reviews 3 and soon closed The Divine Mr J was re released by Rochelle Films Inc in 1980 after Bette Midler s starring role in The Rose 4 See also editList of American films of 1974 List of films banned in the United StatesReferences edit The Divine Mr J 1974 Film amp TV Database British Film Institute 2011 Archived from the original on May 26 2009 Retrieved May 10 2011 Mair George 1995 Bette An Intimate Biography of Bette Midler Secaucus NJ Birch Lane Press Carol Publishing Group pp 96 98 ISBN 9781559722728 Movie Review The Divine Mr J at Festival Theater movies nytimes com May 25 1974 Retrieved May 12 2011 Bette on the Boards betteontheboards com 1979 Archived from the original on January 3 2011 Retrieved May 13 2011 External links editThe Thorn at IMDb nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Thorn film amp oldid 1206932475, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
