Another 'funny' line


John Wayne's awful centurian is always commented on, but there are other lines which, while not disastrously delivered, nevertheless are unintentionally funny. One I'm thinking of is when a soldier returns from spying on John the Baptist and reports, "Day after day he stands in the water, spreading sedition." Darn that Baptist with his oozing pustulence leaking into the Jordan River!

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[deleted]

Obviously the "darn" usage gaffe is an artifact of the influence of several scriptwriters tossing their respective ad libs into the scramble. Initially director George Stevens rejected the line's original version, which read, "that doggoned Baptist" so it never made it into the final cut. Another scene that was filmed but then dropped depicted Jesus asking his disciples, "Who in tarnation do men say that I am" and required Von Sydow to wear a Stetson while holding a long piece of straw between his lips. This print no longer exists. The one on You Tube, with its clumsy cut to an actor who is clearly _not_ Von Sydow, doesn't fool anyone except the most gullible.

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