It says that David Lean did "uncredited" work on this film. Since I saw this so long ago, I remember very little about it, I was wondered if there are any recognizable "Leanesque" moments in it.
Mind you, George Stevens was no hack, but he was basically a studio hired gun with no real style. Lean was a master stylist.
"Penis Canes Are Murder." Dr. Gregory House
David Lean directed all the scenes with Claude Rains as Herod the Great. Whether he also directed any of the scenes with Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, on the same set, I'm not at all sure. I'll try and find out.
I don't know if there are any recognizable Leanisms as such, but the Rains scenes are frequently considered amongst the most successful in the film. Whether that's because of Lean's direction, Rains' performance, the starkly compelling set, or something else entirely, I'm not sure.
Edit: I've now found out that Lean did direct the Jose Ferrer scenes as well. There was a very tight shooting schedule and as Stevens was heavily committed to the location shoot in Nevada he needed a second principal unit to shoot a number of studio scenes. Fred Zinneman gave help and advice with this, and contected Lean. Stevens initially suggested that Lean might direct the Nativity scene but Lean wasn't fond of it, passed it to Lewis Milestone, who passed it to Jean Negulesco, who did finally direct it. Lean however spent about two weeks at Desilu studios (end of April / beginning of May 1963) directing presumably all the scenes set in Machaerus with Claude Rains and Jose Ferrer as Herods Snr & Jnr.
Call me Ishmael...
I also read that Charlton Heston directed some scenes. He was preparing for a directing career that never panned out (his Antony and Cleopatra was a flop).
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