The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966) on Netflix
God creates the earth and the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, who live in Eden until a Serpent tempts them. Their sons Cain and Abel bring God sacrifices.
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Trailer
Plot summary
God creates the heavens and the earth and the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. They live in Eden until a Serpent persuades Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, and she persuades Adam to do the same. God banishes them from the Garden. Eve bears two sons, Cain, a farmer, and Abel, a shepherd. Both bring God sacrifices, and God favors Abel's lamb over Cain's harvest. God is displeased with his creation and tells Noah to build an ark to save his family and the animals.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film introduced Franco Nero to American audiences. Nero, who was working as the film's still photographer, was hired by Huston for the role of Abel because of his handsome features, and since Nero could not then speak English, Huston gave him recordings of William Shakespeare to study.
- Ulla Bergryd was an anthropology student living in Gothenburg, Sweden when a talent scout discovered her, photographed her in a museum there and promptly hired her to play Eve. She told The Pittsburgh Press she was especially surprised that she started work four days after signing a contract.
- De Laurentiis hired Ennio Morricone, who wrote and recorded about 15 minutes of test cues that Huston approved of, but a contract dispute between De Laurentiis and Morricone's then-publisher RCA Records got Morricone let go. His cues were reworked into three of his later scores.
- Mayuzumi's Academy Award nod made him the first Japanese-born composer to be nominated for a Best Original Score Oscar. As of 2025, the only other composer to do so is Ryuichi Sakamoto, for The Last Emperor.
- The largest reproduction of the ark, on the backlot of the De Laurentiis Film Center, was 200 feet long, 64 feet wide and 50 feet high. The interior reproduction, one of the largest interior sets ever built, had three decks divided into a hundred pens and a ramp running clear around it from top to bottom.
- Anglo-Persian actress Zoe Sallis, cast as Hagar, was originally known as Zoe Ishmail until Huston decided she should change her name because of its similarity to Ishmael, the name of her character's son.
