The Thorn (film)
1974 film by Peter McWilliams
The Thorn (also known as The Greatest Story Overtold and The Divine Mr. J) is a 1971 American comedy film written, edited, directed and produced by Peter McWilliams (as Peter Alexander), and starring John Hassberger and Bette Midler. A religious satire, its release was legally challenged on grounds that its title and advertising deceptively exploited Midler's fame.
Plot
Cast
John Hassberger as Jesus Christ
Bette Midler as the Virgin Mary
James Harrison as Joseph
John Greenburg as John the Baptist
Fred LaBour as the Angel Fred
Richard Pollard as Rabbi Gabriel
Diana David as Salome
Jack Castor and Chi Chi as queens
All of these actors were unknown and had no other film credits, with the exception of Midler, who was just beginning to build her singing career, had acted in a Broadway musical, and had briefly played a lead role in the off-Broadway musical Salvation in 1969. Midler had a brief appearance as a boat passenger in the 1966 film Hawaii.
Production
Development
Originally conceived as The Greatest Story Overtold, an irreverent spoof of the 1965 epic film The Greatest Story Ever Told, the project was influenced by the increase in popularity and profitability of Christian evangelism. Peter McWilliams wrote, produced, directed and edited the film under the pseudonym Peter Alexander. He went on to write a broad range of mostly self-published, popular books.
Filming
Shot in 16mm on a shoestring budget, the crew included Paul Josephson on camera and lighting, Craig Reynolds and Jay Cassidy on camera, and Jon Duff on sound recording. Filming primarily took place in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan from 1970 to 1971.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Thorn (film)” is 1974 film by Peter McWilliams. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Thorn, film and Peter, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1974 film by Peter McWilliams” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7768887. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1969, 1966 and 1965.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Thorn (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.