Jesus Christ Superstar (film) who had played Jesus is missing. A shepherd and his flock cross the hillside beneath the empty cross ("John Nineteen Forty-One"). During filming of "Fiddler on the Roof", Barry Dennen, who played Pilate on the concept album, suggested to Norman Jewison that he should direct "Jesus Christ Superstar" as a film. After hearing the album, Jewison agreed. The cast consisted mostly of actors from the Broadway show, with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson starring as Jesus and Judas respectively. Neeley had played a reporter and a leper in the Broadway version, and understudied the role of Jesus. Likewise, Anderson understudied
The Living Christ Series actually shown. Since the early days of sound, American film producers had been afraid that some members of the audience would be alienated if an actor who did not fit the public's image of Christ was chosen to play the role, so virtually all had played it safe by showing Him only from the back or in long shot. Sometimes only Christ's hand would be seen. Foreign film makers, however, had no such doubts, and Christ was actually shown in such films as the French "Golgotha" (1935), the Mexican "El Martir del Calvario" (1952), and the 1953 British serial "Jesus