Ben-Hur (1959)

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Lew Wallace (novel)
Karl Tunberg (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 December 1959 (Argentina)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A Tale of the Christ

Plot:

When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Roman | Jerusalem | Revenge | Prince

Awards:

Won 11 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Charlton Heston	...	Judah Ben-Hur
Jack Hawkins	...	Quintus Arrius
Haya Harareet	...	Esther
Stephen Boyd	...	Messala
Hugh Griffith	...	Sheik Ilderim
Martha Scott	...	Miriam
Cathy O'Donnell	...	Tirzah
Sam Jaffe	...	Simonides
Finlay Currie	...	Balthasar / Narrator
Frank Thring	...	Pontius Pilate
Terence Longdon	...	Drusus
George Relph	...	Tiberius Caesar
André Morell	...	Sextus

Also Known As:

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (USA) (alternative title)
Ben-Hur (Argentina) (Peru) (Spain) [es]
аЕМ цСП (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
Ben Hur (Yugoslavia: Serbian title) [sr]
Ben Hur (Greece) [el]
Ben Hur (West Germany) [de]
Ben Hur (Poland) [pl]
Ben-Hur (France) [fr]
Ben-Hur (Brazil) [pt]
Ben-Hur (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

212 min | Sweden:219 min (1970) | Sweden:224 min (1962) | UK:222 min (1993 re-release) | 214 min (DVD edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.76 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Dolby (1993 re-release)

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Portugal:M/12 | China:(Banned) | South Korea:All | Brazil:12 | USA:Approved (certificate #19158) (original rating) | Canada:G (video rating) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Australia:PG (alternate rating) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Norway:12 (1959) | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) | USA:G (re-rating) (1969) | West Germany:16 | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Anzio, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

According to his memoirs Stewart Granger was offered the role of Messala but claimed that he turned it down on the advice of his agent who recommended Granger not to play a supporting role to Charlton Heston.

Goofs:

Continuity: Messala damages Ben-Hur's chariot with his saw-toothed wheel-hubs, but when Ben-Hur drives up to Pontius Pilate to receive his prize, his chariot is undamaged.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Balthasar: [narrating] In the Year of our Lord, Judea - for nearly a century - had lain under the mastery of Rome. In the seventh year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, an imperial decree ordered every Judean each to return to his place of birth to be counted and taxed. The converging ways of many of them led to the gates of their capital city...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Collector (1965)

Still good after 40+ years, but made for a different audience.

Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ, was hugely popular as a novel, a play and two movies. It was written in a less vulgar time about a very spiritual event. Seen today by moviegoers addicted to constant action and low frequency effects, it will seem ponderous, slow and pretentious. Well, it is a little. You have to pay attention to the dialogue or you won't get it at all. Some of the intimate scenes aren't all that great. Anyone that really pays attention can tell the sea battle is done with miniatures. It's still worth watching. As everyone ought to know by now, the chariot race is one-of-a-kind; nothing else comes close to that real live race where the main actors actually raced most of the time. I just watched this movie after lapse of about 10 years. I still enjoyed it. The sea battle is still fun even if you know the boats are about as big as a man. The few moments which have Christ on the screen are still moving. Just about all of the acting is good with only a few forgettable moments. Just be ready to spend about 4 hours in front of the screen listening to occasionally flowery dialog.