Ben-Hur (1959 film)
Ben-Hur is a
1959 film directed by
William Wyler, and is the most recent and most popular live-action film version of
Lew Wallace's novel,
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (
1880). It stars
Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur and
Stephen Boyd as Messala. It premiered at
Loews Theater in
New York City on
November 18,
1959. It went on to win eleven
Academy Awards, including best picture for 1959, a feat equaled only by
Titanic (1997) and
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003).
|
Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd). |
Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich
Jewish prince and merchant in
Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Preceding the arrival of a new governor, Judah Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala arrives as military
commanding officer of the
Roman legions. At first Judah and Messala are happy to meet after years apart, but their different political views separate them; Messala believes in the glory of
Rome and worldly power, while Judah is devoted to his faith and Jewish nationalism. During the welcome parade for the governor, a roofing tile falls down from Judah's house and startles the governor's horse, nearly killing him. Although Messala knows that it was an accident, in order to intimidate the restive Jewish populace by punishing a powerful local family he sends Judah to the
galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. Judah swears to come back and take revenge. En route to the sea, Judah is denied water when his slave gang arrives at Nazareth. He collapses, having lost the will to live, when an as-yet unknown
Jesus Christ[Out of respect, Jesus is never seen from the front during the entire film. Jesus was played by an old friend of director Wyler, Claude Heater. He was left uncredited for what was his only film role.] gives him water and a motivation to survive.
After three years as a galley slave
[This is an anachronism. In reality, galley slaves did not exist until the 16th century. The Roman navy was, from the outset, comprised completely of volunteers. All seamen, be they rowers/sailors or marines joined up of their own volition and received regular pay and leave. Manning the oars was a task that required considerable skill and discipline, not likely to be found in pressed slaves.], the ship to which Judah is assigned becomes the flagship of Quintus Arrius, sent by the
Emperor to destroy a fleet of Macedonian
pirates. Judah's new commander notices his resolve and will to survive, although he declines the offer to transfer to Arrius' gladiatorial team, declaring that God will aid him. The Roman armada is attacked by the pirates and Judah's galley is sunk, but Judah manages to save the life of Arrius, who subsequently adopts Judah as his son. Thus regaining his freedom and wealth, and having learned Roman ways (including becoming an expert
charioteer), he eventually returns to Judea. There he borrows horses from the Arab sheik Ilderin and defeats Messala in a chariot race before the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Messala, who attempts to cheat his way to victory, is mortally wounded in the race, but tells Judah where he can find his mother and sister: In the "valley of the lepers," as they had contracted
leprosy while in prison. Although he has accomplished his goal of revenge on Messala, Judah's soul remains tormented.
The film is subtitled "A Tale of the Christ." While the film mostly centers on Judah and his relationship with Messala, Jesus appears in the film several times at key points, including the aforementioned incident when he gives water to Judah at
Nazareth. Judah attempts to return the favor during Jesus' march to
Calvary but is shoved away by the guards. Judah witnesses the crucifixion. Judah's mother and sister are healed by a miracle, as is Judah's heart and soul. He tells his family that as he heard Jesus talk of forgiveness while on the cross, "I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand." The film begins with the
Magi visiting the infant Jesus, and ends with the empty crosses of
Calvary in the background and a shepherd and his flock (a prominent Judeo-Christian symbol) in the foreground.
Finance
Ben-Hur was an extremely expensive production, requiring 300 sets scattered over 340 acres (1.4 km²). Its production was a gamble made by
MGM to save itself from bankruptcy; the gamble paid off.
Aspect ratio
The movie was filmed in a process known as "MGM Camera 65", 65mm negative stock from which was made a 70 mm
anamorphic print with an aspect ratio of 2.76:1, considered to be one of the widest prints ever made, having a width of almost three times its height. This allowed for spectacular panoramic shots in addition to six-channel audio. As a matter of practice the ratio of "Camera 65" prints were shown in an aspect ratio of 2.5:1 on most screens. This was so that theaters were not required to install new wider screens or curtail the height of screens already installed.
|
The chariot race scene, illustrating the extremely wide aspect ratio used for Ben-Hur. |
The chariot race
Even by current standards, the chariot race in
Ben-Hur is considered to be one of the most spectacular action sequences ever filmed. Filmed long before the advent of
computer-generated effects, it took over three months to complete, using 8000 extras on the largest film set ever built, some 18 acres (73,000 m²). The action captured by
cinematographer Robert Surtees and the MGM Camera 65 process made the chariot race a
touchstone of modern cinema.
Charlton Heston spent four weeks learning how to drive a chariot, where because of late casting Stephen Boyd had to learn in just two weeks.
To give the scene more impact and realism, three lifelike dummies were placed at key points in the race to give the appearance of men being run over by the chariots. Most notable is the stand-in dummy for Stephen Boyd's Messala that gets tangled up under the horses for about 45 seconds getting battered by the hoofs of the horses. This resulted in one of the most grisly death scenes in motion pictures at this time and shocked audiences.
There are several
urban legends surrounding the chariot sequence, one of which states that a stuntman died during filming. This did not actually happen. However, one of the best-remembered moments in the race came from a near-fatal accident. When Judah's chariot jumps another which has crashed in its path, the charioteer is seen to be almost thrown from his mount and only just manages to hang on and climb back in to continue the race. In reality, while the jump was planned, the character being flipped into the air was not, and stuntman Joe Canutt, son of second unit director
Yakima Canutt, was considered fortunate to escape with only a minor chin injury. Nonetheless, when director Wyler intercut the long shot of Canutt's leap with a close-up of Heston clambering back into his chariot, a memorable scene resulted.
Possible homosexual subtext
In interviews for the
1986 book
Celluloid Closet, and later the
1995 documentary of the same name, screenwriter
Gore Vidal asserts that he persuaded director Wyler to allow a carefully veiled homoerotic subtext between Messala and Ben-Hur; he further suggests that Stephen Boyd agreed to this and acted his role accordingly. Charlton Heston insists that Vidal is lying and had little to do with the final film.
Ben-Hur has been released to DVD on two occasions. The first was on
March 13 2001 as a two-disc set, and the second on
September 13 2005 as a four-disc set.
2001 release (2 Disc)
Disc One & Two: The Movie + Extras
*Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
*Audio Tracks: English (
Dolby Digital 5.1)
*Commentary by: Charlton Heston
*Documentary Ben Hur: The Making of an Epic
*Newly discovered screen tests of the final and near-final cast including
Leslie Nielsen, Cesare Danova, and Haya Harareet
*Addition of the seldom-heard Overture and Entr'acte music
*On-the-set photo gallery featuring Wyler, producer
Sam Zimbalist, cameraman
Robert Surtees, and others
2005 release (4 Disc)
Disc One & Two: The Movie
*Newly Remastered and Restored from Original 65mm Film Elements
*Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio
*Commentary by Film Historian T. Gene Hatcher with Scene Specific Comments from Charlton Heston
*Music-Only Track Showcasing
Mikl贸s R贸zsa's Score
*Screen Tests
*Vintage Newsreels Gallery
*Highlights from the 1960 Academy Awards Ceremony
*Theatrical Trailer Gallery
Disc Three:
The 1925 Silent Version*The Thames Television Restoration with Stereophonic Orchestral Score by Composer Carl Davis
Disc Four: About the Movies
*New Documentary: Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema 鈥" Current filmmakers such as Ridley Scott and George Lucas reflect on the importance and influence of the film
*1994 Documentary: Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic Hosted by
Christopher Plummer*Directed by William Wyler 鈥" 1986
Emmy Award庐 -nominated documentary featuring the last interview with Wyler before his death
*Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures 鈥" New audiovisual recreation of the film via stills, storyboards, sketches, music and dialogue
*36 page booklet
| Ben-Hur DVD Covers |
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First Edition
2 Disc Set | Second Edition
4 Disc Set |
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Academy Awards
The film won an unprecedented 11
Academy Awards, a number matched only by
Titanic in
1997 and
The Return of the King in
2003.
*
Won:
Best Motion Picture 鈥" Sam Zimbalist, producer
*
Won:
Best Leading Actor 鈥" Charlton Heston
*
Won:
Best Supporting Actor 鈥"
Hugh Griffith*
Won:
Best Director 鈥" William Wyler
*
Won:
Best Set Decoration, Color 鈥" Edward C. Carfagno, William A. Horning, and Hugh Hunt
*
Won:
Best Cinematography, Color 鈥" Robert Surtees
*
Won:
Best Costume Design, Color 鈥" Elizabeth Haffenden
*
Won:
Best Special Effects 鈥" A. Arnold Gillespie (visual), Milo B. Lory (audible), and Robert MacDonald (visual)
*
Won:
Best Film Editing 鈥" John D. Dunning and
Ralph E. Winters*
Won:
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture 鈥"
Mikl贸s R贸zsa*
Won:
Best Sound 鈥" Franklin Milton
* Nominated:
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium 鈥" Karl Tunberg
Won:
Best Motion Picture, Drama - Sam Zimbalist, producer
Won:
Best Motion Picture Director - William Wyler
Won:
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Stephen Boyd
Won: Special Award to Andrew Marton for directing the chariot race sequence
*Nominated:
Best Leading Actor, Drama - Charlton Heston
Won:
Best Motion Picture - William Wyler, director
Won:
Best Motion Picture - Sam Zimbalist, producer
*
Won: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Motion Picture - William Wyler
*Nominated:
Best Soundtrack Album or Recording of Music Score from Motion Picture or Television - Mikl贸s R贸zsa
*In
1998 the film ranked #72 on the
American Film Institute list of the
Best American Movies of All Time, #56 at
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers, and is currently ranked #120 on the
IMDb Top 250 list.
*In
2001 the film ranked #49 on the American Film Institute list of the
Most Thrilling American Movies.
*In
2004 the film was selected for preservation by the United States
National Film Registry.
*In
2005 the music score of the film ranked #21 on the American Film Institute list of the
Best Score of American Films.
*In
2006 the film ranked #56 on the American Film Institute list of the
Most Inspiring American Movies.
*The chariot race in
Ben-Hur inspired
George Lucas in his creation of the
Podracing sequence in
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, according to the audio commentary on that film's DVD release.
*The film was
banned in
China in
1960 for containing "
propaganda of
superstitious beliefs, namely
Christianity."[
1]
*In the Bethlehem manger scene early in the movie, a young
Holstein Cow appears. This breed was created in Germany in the 19th century, so its appearance at Jesus' birth would have been impossible.
*When it was time for the Academy Awards ceremony, fellow actor
Jimmy Stewart, also nominated for "The Spirit of St Louis" told Heston, "Chuck, I hope you win. I really do!" Heston has never forgotten that and it still chokes him up.
*During the filming of the galley slave sequence, director Wyler noticed one of the extras was missing his hand. So, he had his stump covered in blood with a phony bone protruding out of it to make the scene more real. He did the same thing with another extra that was missing his foot.
*
Sword and sandal or
Peplum*
*
Getting It Right the Second Time 鈥" an comparative analysis of the novel, the 1925 film, and the 1959 film, at BrightLightsFilm.com
