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as a clown dressed in white, riding atop a donkey. The clown travels around the circus helping people with their problems and gaining followers until he finally takes the place of Magnus's human puppets and is strung up and murdered. Transformed by the clown's sacrifice, Magnus smears his face with white greasepaint and takes the clown's place on the donkey as Christ resurrected.
374:", saying that watching movies was a sin. During the 1960s a small corner of Christian filmmaking underwent a transformation from presenting static lectures, proselytizing, and presenting "sentimental" treatments of Bible stories, to becoming art films meant to evoke personal revelations about God in the viewer. Rolf Forsberg's
31:
255:
is presented through action and music alone and has no dialogue. It tells the story of handful of people working in an old fashioned circus under the rule of Magnus, a puppeteer who strings up human beings as living marionettes and controls their every move. Christ (Clarence
Mitchell) is represented
369:
a popular cinematic subject. Other
Christian films that were non-biblical in nature included Missionary movies, and Evangelical ministry films. During the early 20th Century many of America's ministers and Christian religious leaders condemned Hollywood as a
319:, Tom Erhart, and Clarence Mitchell. It is 20 minutes long and was shot on 35mm color film. Production company credit goes to the Fred A. Niles Communications Centers Inc. of Chicago; and the film is distributed through the
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to his sacrifice and resurrection, performed by traveling acting troupes that often included a menagerie of animals. Upon the introduction of silent movies, Biblical films, like
414:. This helped set the stage for a movement in Christian filmmaking that would strive to connect to the viewers on an artistic level instead of simply preaching.
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as a clown and the world as a circus and is considered both a revolutionary
Christian film and one which proved to be influential.
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was featured in the
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with an additional directing credit given to Tom Rook and producer credit to Fred Niles. The cast include
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438:. Rolf Forsberg continued to make artistically inspired Christian films until he teamed up with
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The film gained artistic accolades at its premiere in the
Protestant Pavilion at the
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was released, the figure of Christ portrayed as a clown was reprised in the musical
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927:"Communism and the Rise of Christian Influence in American Political Mass Media"
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The origins of
Christian media in America goes back to live performances of the
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in 1978 to write and direct the dramatic sequences in the apocalyptic movie
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was one such film, portraying Christ as a clown and the world as a circus.
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Celluloid
Sermons: The Emergence of the Christian Film Industry, 1930–1986
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780:. No. 64 (Spring ed.). Detroit, US: Geez Press. p. 40.
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In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
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as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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896:
962:"2012 National Film Registry Picks in a League of Their Own"
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Baraboo East
Elementary Students as Children in the audience
741:"Response of Church Related Adults to the Film, "Parable.""
680:"National Film Registry selects 25 films for preservation "
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as a historic film that helped to shape
American culture.
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434:, which the author said was inspired by the film
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592:Is there fun after Paul?: a theology of clowning
220:and became popular when first screened at the
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772:"Christ the Clown Takes on Our Humiliation"
620:. Abingdon Press. 1975. pp. 475, 478.
321:Council of Churches of the City of New York
139:Council of Churches of the City of New York
1038:United States National Film Registry films
770:Garcia, Damon (2022). Airey, Tommy (ed.).
29:
705:"Complete National Film Registry Listing"
567:. Landers Associates. 1966. p. 264.
451:In 2012, "Parable" was inducted into the
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974:from the original on November 18, 2016
897:Terry Lindvall, Andrew Quicke (2011).
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745:Education Resources Information Center
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594:. Resource Publications. p. 33.
531:"Protestants: Christ in Grease Paint"
528:
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854:"History of Religious Passion Plays"
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715:from the original on August 29, 2008
660:from the original on August 14, 2012
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345:of 1898 which was based on the 1634
933:from the original on April 23, 2014
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650:"Award-winning 'Parable' Available"
493:Lutheran Church in America (1968).
408:Chicago International Film Festival
326:
13:
867:from the original on March 4, 2016
833:from the original on July 24, 2012
784:from the original on June 15, 2022
751:from the original on June 30, 2022
648:Clark, Carol (February 24, 2004).
624:from the original on June 30, 2022
571:from the original on June 30, 2022
507:from the original on June 30, 2022
400:Venice International Film Festival
224:in 1964, and again in 1965 at the
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827:"The Lost Films of Rolf Forsberg"
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307:. It was written and directed by
394:won numerous awards including a
343:The Passion Play of Oberammergau
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564:Landers film reviews, Volume 11
999:essay by Mark Quigley on the
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469:List of American films of 1964
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280:Clarence Mitchell as The Clown
1:
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1073:1960s English-language films
951:interview with Rolf Forsberg
390:In the years that followed,
352:From the Manger to the Cross
7:
804:"Parable Movie Review 1964"
617:Religion in life, Volume 44
462:
445:The Late Great Planet Earth
271:as The Magician's Assistant
153:September 1, 1964
10:
1094:
1068:1964 New York World's Fair
1053:Films based on the Gospels
1048:American drama short films
1043:American independent films
852:Hagerty, Barbara Bradley.
825:Reed, Ron (June 3, 2009).
590:Liebenow, R. Mark (1986).
501:Lutheran Church in America
388:1964 New York World's Fair
222:1964 New York World's Fair
163:1964 New York World's Fair
903:New York University Press
424:Less than a decade after
347:Oberammergau Passion Play
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529:staff (April 24, 1964).
295:was shot in 1964 at The
212:written and directed by
1058:Films shot in Wisconsin
654:United Methodist Church
503:. pp. 47, 52, 51.
457:The Library of Congress
365:in 1927 helped to make
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1001:National Film Registry
685:March 6, 2013, at the
496:The Lutheran, Volume 6
453:National Film Registry
410:, and a citation from
237:National Film Registry
861:National Public Radio
829:. The Other Journal.
35:1964 publicity poster
1078:1960s American films
228:. The film depicts
967:Library of Congress
709:Library of Congress
694:(December 19, 2012)
543:on January 24, 2009
297:Circus World Museum
265:Tom Erhart as Punch
241:Library of Congress
226:Protestant Pavilion
205:is a 1964 American
1063:World's fair films
929:. August 6, 2012.
417:Four years later,
18:1964 American film
691:Los Angeles Times
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978:December 29,
976:. Retrieved
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857:(audio file)
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174:Running time
146:Release date
115:James Miller
15:
440:Hal Lindsey
382:Recognition
68:Produced by
41:Directed by
1028:1964 films
1022:Categories
871:August 14,
837:August 14,
810:August 14,
755:August 14,
664:August 14,
601:0893900664
547:August 14,
475:References
288:Production
178:20 minutes
157:1964-09-01
122:Production
82:Tom Erhart
60:Written by
937:August 6,
406:from the
398:from the
396:Gold Lion
305:Wisconsin
251:The film
111:Edited by
972:Archived
931:Archived
865:Archived
831:Archived
788:June 30,
782:Archived
749:Archived
713:Archived
683:Archived
658:Archived
628:July 19,
622:Archived
575:July 19,
569:Archived
511:July 19,
505:Archived
463:See also
431:Godspell
372:cesspool
191:Language
76:Starring
52:Tom Rook
1008:Parable
1003:website
997:Parable
739:staff.
436:Parable
426:Parable
419:Parable
392:Parable
376:Parable
301:Baraboo
293:Parable
253:Parable
239:by the
202:Parable
194:English
183:Country
155: (
124:company
24:Parable
909:
719:May 7,
598:
412:Cannes
230:Christ
161: (
480:Notes
207:short
1013:IMDb
980:2017
939:2012
907:ISBN
873:2012
839:2012
812:2012
790:2022
777:Geez
757:2012
721:2020
666:2012
630:2016
596:ISBN
577:2016
549:2012
535:Time
513:2016
404:Hugo
402:, a
260:Cast
247:Plot
1011:at
455:of
359:'s
299:in
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