The Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus

I read about this movie in one of Michael Medved's Golden Turkeys books years ago, but I never got a chance to see the full production until very recently.

There aren't a whole bunch of real actors in this, and that's actually a good thing. I think Johnny Cash hired the first Jesus looking guy he ran into, and it was his friend, Bob Elfstrom.

If you can get past the blonde, blue eyed Christ and a bunch of apostles that look like the Grateful Dead, you'll find a very honest and personal telling of the Gospel with some Cash music I'm thinking few people have ever heard. John Denver, Larry Gatlin and Joe South all got songwriting credits in this film.

Some might call it dated, and maybe it is a little bit. It's a very early '70s looking low budget film, but I think it was the proper way to make this movie at that time. Glitzy star power and glossy production just take away from the Word. I was surprised when this showed up on cable recently. It'll probably be a long time before it shows up again.