John Houston's three hour epic about the book of Genesis in the Old Testament was to be the start of a series of movies covering the so- called "Good Book" but only covered the first 3/4 of that first part of the bible. Expensively made, it failed to earn back its cost and other entries were canceled. It is a pity because Huston gives a valiant effort to tell the story of creation according to the bible and the first thousand years afterwords.

Huston narrates, does the voice of God and even plays Noah. Opulent photography and an excellent musical score add to the multi-part story which covers Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, who begat whom, the great flood and ultimately the creation of the Hebrew nation with Abraham's story.

The story of creation is very touching and Adam's introduction to Eve is profound. Curious Eve didn't quite know her apples, and this leads to their banishment from paradise. Jealousy turns brother against brother, Noah deals with human ridicule and the unpredictability of nature in a humorous sequence surrounding a natural disaster.

Then there is the story of Abraham, lead by an excellent George C. Scott with Ava Gardner as his barren wife. The will of God makes the story almost tragic as Abraham must risk heartbreak to please the Lord. If there is one continuous theme, that is the lesson that mankind is not to understand the motives of our creator and to try and make it as good as we can with the gifts he has handed over to us.

The lessons here are told without finger wagging morality lessons so the audience can watch this without feeling like they have been admonished or judged. The special effects ate outstanding, especially in the flood and Tower of Babel sequences which are just as good and less headache inducing as today's overwrought films.

As for the Sodom and Gomorrah sequence, as this came out as the production code was changing, I found it to show a city of perversion that deserved at least a good cleansing, if not total annihilation. There are all sorts of sexual innuendos presented, including homosexuality and bestiality. I have never seen a gay community as perverse as this one, and the confrontation with the angels is definitely an implication of rape, not consensual relations. I can only guess that the lack of morality in these wicked cities had less to do with the types of sex going on rather than the fact that it was without any sense of moral decency behind it and the lawlessness needed to be dealt with. Audiences will see things in the way their own mind perceived it to be, so this sequence and biblical story will always create controversy.

For the most part, this film is extremely well acted and sincere with Huston and Scott particularly excellent. The episodic structure makes this seem a lot shorter than it actually is. For religious people, this may not be a proper replacement for its source material, but it is certainly an excellent visual aid.