[BlueDragon]

I'm having trouble imagining John Wayne as a Roman soldier, or putting his voice into that scene, at the foot of the cross, once the sky was darkened for hours.

Is there some movie I missed?

Before there were movies...they didn't have any. (there, let's see someone contest that statement.lol)
But, there were historians, or chroniclers as a few were called.

http://www.textexcavation.com/phlegontestimonium.html has some discussion of Phlegon's account of the sun being darkened, as reference to it survived and was discussed by a few others. It seems fairly solid.

[Alex Murphy]

I'm having trouble imagining John Wayne as a Roman soldier, or putting his voice into that scene, at the foot of the cross, once the sky was darkened for hours. Is there some movie I missed?

"Missed" might be an exaggeration. Beautifully shot, but abysmally written, it's The Greatest Story Ever Told.