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Ben-Hur (1959)

APPROVED  212 min  -  Action | Adventure | Drama   -  10 December 1959 (Argentina)
8.2
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Ratings: 8.2/10 from 75,797 users  
Reviews: 308 user | 75 critic

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

Writers:

Lew Wallace (novel), Karl Tunberg (screenplay)
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Top 250 #169 | Won 11 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 5 nominations See more awards »
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Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charlton Heston ...
Jack Hawkins Jack Hawkins ...
Haya Harareet Haya Harareet ...
Stephen Boyd ...
Hugh Griffith ...
Martha Scott Martha Scott ...
Cathy O'Donnell Cathy O'Donnell ...
Sam Jaffe Sam Jaffe ...
Finlay Currie Finlay Currie ...
Balthasar / Narrator
Frank Thring Frank Thring ...
Terence Longdon Terence Longdon ...
George Relph George Relph ...
André Morell André Morell ...
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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>  

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Roman | Galley | Jerusalem | Revenge  | See more »

Taglines:

The Entertainment Experience of a Lifetime! See more »

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | Romance

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(Argentina) See more »

Also Known As:

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$15,900,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$90,000,000 (Worldwide) (January 1989)
See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) See more »
Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

 | Sweden: (1970)  | Sweden: (1962)  | UK: (1993 re-release)  | (DVD edition)  | (2005 DVD)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.76 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The production cost MGM a massive $15 million and was a gamble by the studio to save itself from bankruptcy. The gamble paid off, with the film earning $75 million. See more »

Goofs

Continuity: During the chariot race, when we see the third fish lowered, the following shot shows briefly the fishes and the third is still up. See more »

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...
See more »

Crazy Credits

The M-G-M lion is shown in still-frame at the beginning, rather than
roaring. See more »

Connections

Referenced in "To kokkino domatio: Oi komparsoi (#1.10)" (2005) See more »