In the 1950s, the conservative Christian  Bob Jones University in South Carolina decided to start their own film production company, \\\\\\\"Unusual Films\\\\\\\". This was their first film. It\\\\\\\'s certainly ambitious although not everyone involved had the talent needed; the soundtrack is overly dramatic, some of the acting is pretty bad (especially the child actor with the southern accent and the outragious Herod Agrippa at the end) and the script could use some tweaking, but it\\\\\\\'s still pretty interesting and certainly worth watching if you like Christian films, independent-films from this era or Bible-inspired movies in general. One of the cast members, Katherine Helmond, would go on to better things, including several Terry Gilliam films.

Here\\\\\\\'s  the description from the back of the DVD:

Quote:
\\\\\\\"A story of bloodshed and shipwreck, of intrigue and murder, of love and redemption. Wine of Morning, based on the novel by Bob Jones Jr., is the first award winning UNUSUAL FILMS production.The film traces the life of Joel, a promising young man who turns outlaw to free his people from Roman tyranny. As \\\\\\\"Barabbas,\\\\\\\" Joel becomes the murderer and robber chosen by the mob to be released in place of Christ. Although Barabbas is mentioned only briefly in the Gospels, the screen character is alive and plausible. Scenes are set in Nazareth, Cana of Galilee, Capernaum, Jerusalem, Cyprus, Antioch, and Caesarea.

Wine of Morning represented the United States at the International Congress of Schools of Cinema and Teevision in Cannes, France.\\\\\\\"


The film was written by Richard Girvin based on the novel by Bob Jones Jr (who also plays Pontius Pilate), and directed by Katherine Stenholm. Starring Al Carter, Joan DeVolk, Katherine Helmond, George Hennix, Vincent Cervera, Bob Jones III, David Yearick.

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