The Story of David

Not to be confused with A Story of David.

The Story of David
Anthony Quayle as King Saul in The Story of David
Directed by	David Lowell Rich, Alex Segal
Written by	Ernest Kinoy
Produced by	Mildred Freed Alberg
Starring	Timothy Bottoms Anthony Quayle Norman Rodway
Cinematography	John Coquillon
Edited by	Sidney Katz
Music by	Laurence Rosenthal
Production companies	Columbia Pictures Television, Mildred Freed Alberg Productions
Distributed by	American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1976; TV, U.S.) Columbia TriStar Home Video (1997; VHS, U.S.) Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (2001; TV, U.S.) Sony Pictures Television (2002; TV, U.S.) Affirm Films (2007) (DVD, Worldwide) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009; DVD, U.S.)
Release date	April 9, 1976 (1976-04-09) (U.S.)
Running time	191 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Story of David (1976) was a two-part, 3.2 hour American television movie dramatizing the biblical story of King David. It starred Timothy Bottoms as the young David, Keith Michell as the older David, Anthony Quayle as King Saul, and Jane Seymour as Bathsheba. Produced by Columbia Pictures Television for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC-TV), it premiered on 9 April 1976. It was filmed in Israel and Spain.

The Story of David was a kind of sequel to The Story of Jacob and Joseph (1974), also produced for ABC-TV (broadcast two years earlier) and involving many of the same cast and crew.

Plot summary

The narrative follows David's life from the time he was a boy shepherd to his death as the aged King of Israel.
Part 1: David and King Saul relates the exploits of the young David (Bottoms) and his relations with King Saul (Quayle). It begins with David as a humble shepherd who becomes lyre player and armourer to the King who is distraught after the prophet Samuel has chastised him for failing to follow the instructions of the Israelite god, Yahweh, in a battle. Samuel informs Saul that Yahweh will anoint another king in his place. Saul periodically withdraws due to an oppressive illness and, initially, David's music soothes his troubled mind. But Saul is filled with jealous rage when David becomes hero to his people after single combat with Goliath and a subsequent military victory. Although Saul has made David "Captain of a Thousand", in a private moment he makes an attempt on David's life with his spear forcing him soon to flee. David is highly conflicted over his devotion to Saul as Yahweh's first anointed King over the people. He will not kill Saul, despite Saul's constant attempts on his own life, as he feels it will offend the deity. Saul dies in battle and David assumes the throne.
Part 2: David the King begins with a mature David (Michell) and tells the story of his sinning with Bathseba (Seymour), including the scenes with her bath and their subsequent love-making. As David ages he is challenged by the treason of one of his sons, and eventually passes the crown on to another of his sons, Solomon.

Cast

• Timothy Bottoms as David
• Anthony Quayle as King Saul
• Norman Rodway as Joab
• Oded Teomi as Jonathan
• Yehuda Efroni as Younger Abner
• Antonio Tarruella (as Tony Tarruella) as Goliath
• Ahuva Yuval as Abigail
• Irit Ben Zur (as Irit Benzer) as Michal
• Avraham Ben-Yosef as Ahimelech
• Yakar Semach as Abiathar
• Ilan Dar as Eliab
• Dudu Topaz (as David Topaz) as Abinadab
• Ori Levy as Gaza
• Keith Michell as Older David
• Jane Seymour as Bathsheba
• Susan Hampshire as Michal
• Yair Rubin (as Koya Reuben) as Shammab
• Brian Blessed as Abner
• Barry Morse as Jehosephat
• David Collings as Nathan
• Nelson Modling as Absolom
• Terrence Hardiman as Uriah
• Jeanette Sterke as Abigail
• David Nielson as Ammon
• Eric Chapman as Seriah
• J.C. Henning as Elga
• Maureen O'Connell as Maacah
• Dov Reiser as Witch of Endor
• Mark Dignam as Samuel/Achish (uncredited)
• Larry Kemp as Soldier (uncredited)