Programs and Events
opportunities to experience the films themselves
as well as to consider the wider social and religious issues raised by this exhibition.
• Sunday, 16 September:
Opening events
2 - 3 p.m. Rev. Michael Morris, O.P. lectures on
“Moving Pictures: The Bible and Beyond”
3 - 5 p.m. opening reception
both events are free and open to the public
• Two Celluloid Bible Classics
at the Tivoli
MOCRA will present on the big screen two of the
most successful film epics ever made.
Sunday, 7 October: The Ten Commandments
Sunday, 4 November: Ben-Hur
films begin at 12:45 p.m.
pre-show commentary at 12:30 p.m.
Both films will be shown at the Tivoli Theatre
(6350 Delmar in the U City Loop).
Tickets are $5 general admission
and may be purchased in person at the Tivoli
box office in advance or on the day of the show.
NEW! Tickets for The Ten Commandments
may now be purchased online.
Click here to go to the Landmark Theatres website.
Select "St. Louis, MO," then "Tivoli Theatre."
Choose Nov. 4 as your Show Date, then select
"Ben-Hur." There is a $1 service
fee when buying online.
The Celluloid Bible: Marketing Films Inspired by Scripture
Over 50 vintage movie posters from around the world for films inspired by the Bible and the biblical era
About the exhibition
A uniquely modern art form, film and its associated motion picture industry have taken Judeo-Christian scripture as subject matter from the very beginning of the medium and have continued that treatment to the present day. The Celluloid Bible: Marketing Films Inspired by Scripture examines how the Bible has been visualized on film by bringing together 53 vintage movie posters that survey films from 1898 to the present—films classic and obscure, domestic and international, grandiose and camp—along with a selection of ancillary promotional and commemorative materials.
The posters (which range from small window cards to 9-foot mural-like posters) serve as aesthetic objects in their own right, and as indicators of changing trends in the film industry’s approach to the Bible. Designed to inspire the imagination and entice viewers to make a cinematic pilgrimage, the posters allow us to trace developments in the graphic arts as well as in advertising and marketing. Many of the posters have topical imagery that links them to a particular time and place, while others achieve a timeless quality; a number deserve to be considered as bona fide works of art. The posters, like the films they promote, can reveal much about the social milieus in which they functioned. The posters also hint at the various stances filmmakers have taken toward their biblical material: reverent or irreverent, ironic or dogmatic, understated or epic.
About the collector
The Celluloid Bible draws on the extensive collection of film posters of scholar Rev. Michael Morris, O.P.
Morris received his Ph.D. in Art History from the University of California at Berkeley in 1986 and for twenty years has been a Professor of Religion and the Arts at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. A special interest in film has led him to build a world-class collection of movie posters and allied material for films that charts the intersection between religion and the cinema. Morris writes for both scholarly and popular publications. His biography of the wife of the actor Rudolph Valentino (Madam Valentino: The Many Lives of Natacha Rambova, Abbeville Press, 1991) was named by The New York Times as one of the Notable Books of the Year. MOCRA is only the second venue to publicly display the Morris collection.
I.N.R.I. (Germany, 1923)
16 September - 9 December 2007
Download an informational brochure
GENERAL EXHIBITION INFORMATION
Hours: Tues - Sun, 11 am - 4 pm
Admission: free, with suggested donation of $5/adults, $1/students and children
Group visits (school, religious, community, seniors, etc.) please call in advance
Directions to MOCRA
MOCRA is grateful for financial support from
the Regional Arts Commission
Images courtesy of Michael Morris.
