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Ben-Hur (1959) 8.1
When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge. Director:William Wyler |
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Title: Ben-Hur (1959)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Charlton Heston | ... | ||
| Jack Hawkins | ... | ||
| Haya Harareet | ... | ||
| Stephen Boyd | ... | ||
| Hugh Griffith | ... | ||
| Martha Scott | ... | ||
| Cathy O'Donnell | ... | ||
| Sam Jaffe | ... | ||
| Finlay Currie | ... |
Balthasar /
Narrator
|
|
| Frank Thring | ... | ||
 |
Terence Longdon | ... | |
|
|
George Relph | ... | |
| André Morell | ... | ||
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
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 politic views separate them. During the welcome parade a roof tile falls down from Judah's house and injures the governor. Although Messala knows 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. Written by Matthias Scheler <tron@lyssa.owl.de>
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
30 March 1960 (Japan) See more »Also Known As:
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ See more »Box Office
Budget:
$15,900,000 (estimated)Gross:
$70,000,000 (USA)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (1970) | (1962) | (1993 re-release) | (DVD edition) | (2005 DVD)Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.76 : 1
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[taps his head]
Sextus: How do you fight an idea?
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
According to Gore Vidal, as recounted in The Celluloid Closet one of the script elements he was brought in to re-write was the relationship between Messala and Ben-Hur. Director William Wyler was concerned that two men who had been close friends as youths would not simply hate one another as a result of disagreeing over politics. Thus, Vidal devised a thinly veiled subtext suggesting the Messala and Ben-Hur had been lovers as teenagers, and their fighting was a result of Ben-Hur spurning Messala. Wyler was initially hesitant to implement the subtext, but agreed on the conditions that no direct reference ever be made to the characters' sexuality in the script, that Vidal personally discuss the idea with Stephen Boyd, and not mention the subtext to Charlton Heston who, Wyler feared, would panic at the idea. After Vidal admitted to adding the homosexual subtext in public, Heston denied the claim, going so far as to suggest Vidal had little input into the final script, and his lack of screen credit was a result of his being fired for trying to add gay innuendo. Vidal rebutted by citing passages from Heston's 1978 autobiography, where the actor admitted that Vidal had authored much of the final shooting script. See more »Goofs
Modern books with covers can be seen, at a time when only scrolls were used. See more »Quotes
Sextus: You can break a man's skull, you can arrest him, you can throw him into a dungeon. But how do you control what's up here?[taps his head]
Sextus: How do you fight an idea?
See more »
"Ben-Hur" is a dominant Best Picture Oscar winner that is perhaps more impressive now than it was when it was first released in 1959. Charlton Heston (Oscar-winning) stars as a rich Jewish nobleman during the time of Jesus Christ who is turned into a slave by the Romans after a freak accident. Now he is manning an oar in a ship's galley and his family is imprisoned. Years pass and now Heston is after the former childhood friend (Stephen Boyd), a Roman, that turned against him. The 17 minutes of footage for the chariot race is some of the best during the history of the cinema. Hugh Griffith won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and William Wyler won his third and final Best Director Oscar. A monumental film that is great in every cinematic category known to man. 5 stars out of 5.