Godspell

Play trailer

Godspell

G,

1973,

1h 43m,

Musical

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

63%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

63%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

At the behest of John the Baptist (David Haskell), young men and women forsake their jobs and take up the mantle of Jesus Christ (Victor Garber) -- becoming his disciples -- in a musical retelling of the Gospel of Matthew set in modern-day New York City. Using song and dance, the apostles traverse the city, spreading Christ's message of love and tolerance as the time moves ever closer to his betrayal at the hands of Judas (also played by David Haskell) and, ultimately, his crucifixion.

Penelope Gilliatt

The New Yorker

Jan 23, 2024

A lot of the writing is pastiche that uses facile Biblical repetitions and leans on a happy-happy mode that seems peculiarly and maybe sadly dated. Woodstock is long over, and the bloom has gone off.

Go to Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Oct 23, 2004

4/4

It's a series of stories and songs, like the Bible is, and it's told with the directness that simple stories need: with no tricks, no intellectual gadgets, and a lot of openness.

Go to Full Review

Patrick McDonald

HollywoodChicago.com

Apr 17, 2021

5/5

An in-the-moment celebration of the Jesus story, told with frenetic energy & prescient New York City-ness. Contains an interview w/castmember Robin Lamont, plus vodcast link.

Go to Full Review

Jesús Fernández Santos

El Pais (Spain)

Jul 15, 2019

The directors have not only recreated the story but the city itself, which throughout an hour and a half turns into something timeless. [Full Review in Spanish]

Go to Full Review

Phil Hall

Film Snobbery

Apr 7, 2011

2/5

A lesson in how not to transfer a theatrical musical to the big screen.

Go to Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Jul 25, 2007

C+

The peppy no-name cast take to the parables like toddlers take to Sesame Street.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Feb 1, 2019

The best inspiring movie ever made!

Poe R

Jun 11, 2018

Great songs, an attractive cast, inventive use of NYC and to top it off surprisingly moving. This is often compared unfavourably with 'Jesus Christ Superstar', but that makes no sense to me at all. ''Godspell' - taking itself far less seriously than 'JCS' - achieves a profundity the other never approaches.

See more

Harry L

Apr 1, 2018

I loved it. But I have a thing for the 70s.

Ron W

May 18, 2017

Fine for what it is, but it's very much a product of the era from whence it came - take that as you will. Comparison to "Jesus Christ Superstar" is kinda unavoidable, since they cover the same material, but especially because there was also a hippie version of that filmed in the same year. It's a happier, simpler, and, I daresay, more naive take on the idea than JCS was, though with interesting anachronistic symbolism of its own (the clown makeup on Jesus is an idea that probably warrants further research to fully appreciate the nuances of). However, unfortunately, despite the interesting symbolism, I wasn't blown away by any of the songs - a bit of a problem for a musical, especially when direct competitor JCS had a lot of extremely memorable songs.

See more

George S

Apr 15, 2017

This 1973 musical based on the Broadway play of the same name tells the story of the gospel in slapstick theatrics and wonderful musical numbers. It is the perfect movie to be showing on TCM (it will be on at 5 am PST) so it is recommended that you set your dvr. Make sure to record the HD version of the channel as there is no blu ray currently for the film.

See more

Rey W

Jan 29, 2017

Absolutely beautiful and inspiring and tons of fun!

Read all reviews

David Greene

Director

Victor Garber

Jesus

David Haskell

John

Jerry Sroka

Jerry

Lynne Thigpen

Lynne

Katie Hanley

Katie

Rose Marie

100%

70%

Rose Marie

Watchlist

Don Camillo

68%

Don Camillo

Watchlist

China Seas

80%

73%

China Seas

Watchlist

My Favorite Brunette

75%

69%

My Favorite Brunette

Watchlist

Elephant Walk

50%

50%

Elephant Walk

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

At the behest of John the Baptist (David Haskell), young men and women forsake their jobs and take up the mantle of Jesus Christ (Victor Garber) -- becoming his disciples -- in a musical retelling of the Gospel of Matthew set in modern-day New York City. Using song and dance, the apostles traverse the city, spreading Christ's message of love and tolerance as the time moves ever closer to his betrayal at the hands of Judas (also played by David Haskell) and, ultimately, his crucifixion.

Director: David Greene
Producer: Edgar Lansbury
Screenwriter: David Greene, John-Michael Tebelak
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia, Columbia Pictures
Rating: G
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 21, 1973, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 43m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings