Actors - Ben-Hur

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	Actors - Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur is a 1959 film directed by William Wyler and is, today, the best-known 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.

Plot

Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Together with the new governor his old friend Messala arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. At first they are happy to meet after a long time, but their different political views separate them - Messala believes in Rome and worldly power, Judah is devoted to his faith and Jewish nationalism. During the welcome parade, a brick falls down from Judah's house and nearly kills the governor (who is thrown from his startled horse). Although Messala knows that they are not guilty he sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. But 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 gives him water and a motivation to survive.

After three years as a galley slave, the ship to which Judah has been consigned becomes the flagship of Quintus Arrius, sent by the Emperor to destroy a fleet of Macedonian pirates. Judah's resolve manages to attract the interest of his new commander, though 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 given his freedom, 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 they were in prison.

The film is subtitled "A Tale of the Christ". While the film mostly centers on Judah and his relationship with Mesalla, 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 in the background and a shepherd and his flock (a strong Judeo-Christian symbol) in the foreground. Out of respect, Jesus is never seen from the front during the entire film.

Cast

Production

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

Even by today's 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.

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, whilst the jump was planned, the character being flipped into the air was not, and stuntman Yakima Canutt was considered fortunate to escape without injury. Nonetheless, when director William Wyler intercut the long shot of Canutt's leap with a close-up of Heston clambering back into his chariot, a classic scene resulted (despite the fact that to sharp-eyed observers, it was clearly a stuntman driving the chariot, not Heston, in the long shot).

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