`The Bible' Before the Cameras

By JACOB L. CHERNOFSKY

(Copyright, 1963, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)

HOLLYWOOD—At long last,
"The Bible" itself is being
filmed—not here in the U. S.,
but in Italy under Dino De
Laurentiis's guidance with a
multi-million dollar budget.
During a recent visit to the
West Coast, Luigi Luraschi, the
London-born executive of the
De Laurentiis movie empire,
discussed the production project
with me is great detail. I
learned that plans for the mo-
tion picture series have been
approved by official representa-
tives of Protestant, Catholic and
Jewish faiths. The Italian movie
maker is seeking universal ap-
peal. The seriousness of his ap-
proach to the most sacred text
assures us that the forth-coming
group of pictures will treat the
Biblical events with more rever-
ence than did the same pro-
ducer's earlier epic, "Barabbas."
(Dealing with a tragic chapter
of ancient Jewish history, the
latter didn't _do justice to the
People of the Book.)
Appropriately, the production
starts with the Beginning, the
Creation as described in the
Bible. It also includes Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden,
and goes on through the murder
of Abel by Cain. Christopher
Fry, the British poet and play-
wright, wrote the screenplay
and also will write a scenarios
for the whole project. Robert
Emerson, France's great crea-
tive director, is guiding the
filming of "Genesis."
The site of the Garden of
Eden is located close to Rome,
but is to be kept secret; the sets
remain closed to avoid any sen-
sationalism. De Laurentiis's
aides tell us that Adam and Eve
are playing their roles in the
nude to add authenticity to the
proceedings. The aides are cur-
rently scouting various coun-
tries to choose an 18-year-old
girl to play the part of Eve. De-
Laurentiis contends that "only
a young girl can play the part
and that she does not have to
be a trained actress. Her iden-
tity will be kept secret even
after the film is produced," he
says.
In the meantime, sets for
the Abraham-Isaac episode, to,
be directed by Orson Welles,
have been constructed on the
lava-scarred slopes of Mt.
Etna, in Sicily. Welles is also
scouting locations in Spain
for the Esau and Jacob se-
quence, which he will also di-
rect.
The third director, Italy's
famed Luchino Visconti (who
only recently completed "The
Leopard" with Burt Lancastcr)
is currently preparing the Jos-
eph and His Brethren episode,
which he plans to film on loca-
tion in Egypt during the month
of October.
This brings us to the question,
why every film maker dealing
with the Biblical setting has
avoided shooting even a seg-
ment of his picture in the Holy
Land, the fountainhead of the
Judeo-Christian religion? De
Laurentiis, himself, had produc-
tion experience in Israel when
he photographed the entire
World War I epic "The Best of
Enemies" on location in Beer-
sheba and Eilat, with the new
State's creative talent and its
skillful craftsmen at his dis-
posal.
It is still hoped that the Min-
istry of Commerce and Industry
in Jerusalem, whose Bureau for
the Encouragement of the Is-
rael Film Industry is under the
able •leadership of Asher Hirsh-
berg (the very same who made
the deal with Preminger on
"Exodus"), will inspire the De
Laurentiis organization to make,
at least, a segment from the
Holy Bible against the land-
scape of the country where the
Book was conceived and writ-
ten.
Luraschi, t h e production
executive who had been quite
impres§edibylSrael's .progregs

when visiting the country
during the filming of "The
Best of Enemies" two years
ago, tells me that the current
epic will do justice to the
spirit of "The Bible." The
film series will cover the per-
iod from the Creation to Jos-
eph and His Brethren. It is
the first time in cinema his-
tory that a producer has at-
tempted to film the sacred
texts in continuity. Others
have simply taken isolated
stories from "The Bible."
The earliest part of De Lau-
rentiis' production, currently
before the cameras, is to be re-
leased as a complete nibtion pic-
ture in itself. The story of
"Genesis" will have a running
time of some three hours. The
next segment, the Book of
Exodus, will be photographed
while this part is already in re-
lease. Christopher Fry, whose
first draft has been approved, is
working overtime to conclude
his series of screen plays with
the help of research experts and
aides.
The whole production of the
multiple screen venture will be
in Ultra-Panavision 70mm and
Technicolor.

Bnai Brith's
`Sports Nite'
On Aug. 28

A galaxy of renowned sports
personalities, and live demon-
strations, will highlight "Sports
Nite," Bnai Brith's kickoff for
the 1963-64 bowling season,
Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the
Berkley High School Audi-
torium, Coolidge at 111/2 Mile
Rd., starting at 8:30 p.m.
Sponsored by the Metropoli-
tan Detroit Bnai Brith Bowling
Association and its member
lodges, "Sports Nite" will fea-
ture informativ– talks by top
bowling stars and headliners
from Detroit's other athletic en-
deavors. Representing the De-
troit Lions will be All-Pro
tackle Roger. Brown, Max Mess-
ner, and Dick "Night Train"
Lane.
Live demonstrations for the
small fry will be presented on
stage. Featured will be three
top wrestling bouts with some
of the nation's outstanding grap-
plers. In the first match, Gino
Brito will take on Bearded Ter-
ror, Poncho Lopez will battle
Farmer Pete and a mixed tag
team bout will follow.
"Sports Nite" will present a
live Judo exhibition, featuring
Louie Furukawa and Associates.
A trampoline demonstration
will be presented by one of the
area's outstanding performers.
"Sports Nite" is designed to
aid the more than 2500 Bnai
Brith bowlers in becoming ac-
quainted with the Metropolitan
Association.
All Bnai Brith members are
urged to attend, to bring the
wives, children and interested
friends. Free tickets may be
obtained from the bowling
secretaries. Refreshments will
be served after the stage pres-
entation.

nai OritA

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Activities

Bnai Brith Vocational Serv-
ice, celebrating its 25th anni-
versary, expands its career
counseling program to the West
Coast next month. It will open
a regional office in San Diego.

S. Africa Industrialist
Sir Lewis Richardson, a
Prominent South African in-
dustrialist and Jewish corn-
munal leader, was a pioneer in
the development of the ostrich
feather and mohair industries
In South Africa. -

Ellyn Guss • to Wed
Irving Tutunick
.001,4

MISS ELLYN GUSS

Mr. and Mrs. David Guss of
Oak Park announce the engage-
ment of their daughter, Ellyn
Ruth, to Irving Tutunick, son of
Mrs. Gilda Tutunick of Ohio
Ave. and the late Abraham Tu-
tunick.
The bride-elect a ttended
Highland Park Junior College
and her fiance attended Law-
rence Institute of Technology.
A spring, 1964, wedding is
planned.

Frisco Dinkelspiel
Fund to Give Aid to
Students in Israel

SAN FRANCISCO, (JTA) —
The board of directors of the
San Francisco Jewish Welfare
Federation announced that five
Israeli youngsters have been
chosen as the first winners of
scholarships provided by the
Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Memorial
Scholarship Fund established
last year in memory of the first
president of the Federation.
The scholarships will enable
the five youngsters, one of them
an Arab, to complete their sec-
ondary school education. Israel
has no free secondary school
system, and tuition has to be
paid for children above the age
of 14. All five youngsters are
from the Haifa area.
Under an arrangement con-
cluded last year between the
Haifa Department of Education
and the San Francisco Federa-
tion, the Municipality of Haifa
has agreed to match Israeli
pounds with each scholarship
dollar made available by the
Fund, above the first $1,000
per year. The Fund is admin-
istered by a special committee
appointed by the Muncipality
of Haifa.
During his l i f e t i m e, Mr.
Dinkelspiel, who died in May,
1959, served as president of
the National Jewish Welfare
Board, vice - president of the
American Joint Distribution
Committee and a member of
the national cabinet of the
United Jewish Appeal.

Seek Witnesses
to Mogilew Crime

Witnesses to a mass execu-
tion by Nazis of Jews of the
Russian town of Mogilew are
being sought by the World JeW-
ish Congress in New York.
According to available infor-
mation, several thousand Jews
of Mogilew were murdered in
February, 1942. These mass exe-
cutions Wok place in a Russian
town near Tscherwen, probably
Lipen or Grodzyanka.
According to the investigation
now being conducted into these
crimes, most of the Jewish in-
habitants were executed.
Witnesses, or anyone who has
any information concerning the
crimes, are asked to contact Dr.
Nehemiah Robinson ,director,
Institute of Jewish Affairs,
World Jewish Congress, 15 E.
'84th St., New York 28.

Music Conference
Opens in Israel.

Brevities

The Sherman Family club will
hold their next meeting at 8
p.m., Aug. 11 at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Israel Center, 2240
Dougal, Windsor, Ont.
* * *
TV personality Mery Griffin,
opens a one-week engagement
in "The Moon is Blue," Tues-
day at NORTHLAND PLAY-
HOUSE, following completion
of "Calculated Risk," starring
Dana Andrews, Sunday.
x. * *
The WAYNE STATE UNI-
VERSITY THEATRE at 3424
Woodward has been renamed
the BONSTELLE THEATRE
after Jessie Bonstelle, manag-
ing director of the famous
company who moved into the
building in 1924.
* * *
Paddy Chayefsky's "GIDEON"
will run tonight and tomorrow
at the WINDSOR INTERNA-
TIONAL THEATRE FESTI-
VAL, Cleary Auditorium. "A
Taste of Honey" opens next
week at the Theatre. Curtain
is at 8:40 p.m.
* * *
THE DETROIT SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA will open a three
week series of nine free con-
certs Tuesday, at 8:15 p.m., in
the Jerome H. Remick Memorial
Shell on Belle Isle. Valter Poole
will conduct. The concerts will
be presented each Tuesday,
Thursday and Sunday through
Sept. 1, sponsored by the De-
partment of Parks and Recrea-
tion.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An
international conference on
"East and West in Music"
opened at the Hebrew Univer-
sity here, under the auspices of
the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organi-
zation's International Music
Council and International Folk
Music Council.
Composers, musicologists, edu-
cators and musicians from 50
countries are among the parti-
cipants in the five-day confer-
ence, which will feature lecture
demonstrations on Biblical mel-
odies and traditiorial music of
various Israeli communities.
The reknown Hungarian com-
poser, Zoltan Kodaly, who pre-
sided at the opening session,
hailed Israel as an ideal work-
shop for the conference.

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