Ben Hur (1907)

The scene opens with an assembly of citizens who are harangued by one of their number, whose words have great weight with the crowd, and their attitude of approval shows that Roman misrule ... See full summary »

Directors:

Sidney Olcott, Frank Oakes Rose

Writers:

Gene Gauntier, Lew Wallace (novel)

Stars:

Gene Gauntier, Harry T. Morey, William S. Hart

Cast

Credited cast:
Gene Gauntier
Harry T. Morey

Storyline

The scene opens with an assembly of citizens who are harangued by one of their number, whose words have great weight with the crowd, and their attitude of approval shows that Roman misrule in Jerusalem has reached its climax. Heralds now approach and Roman soldiers beat back the crowd to make way for the approach of the Roman Procurator. The scene changes to the home of Ben Hur, who is seen with his sister and mother on the house top. The cavalcade of Roman troops approaches, and to get a near view Ben Hur leans from the coping and knocks down one of the stones thereof onto the shoulder of the Procurator. This is seen and misconstrued by the Governor, who orders soldiers to arrest the inmates; they, after ineffectual pleas and struggles, are carried off. Ben Hur is consigned to the galleys, where he is loaded with chains. Here he signalizes himself by saving the life of Arrias, who publicly adopts him as his son and proclaims him a Roman citizen amidst the acclamations of the ...

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | ben hur chatracter | two word title | ben hur character | jerusalem | 

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Taglines:

Positively the most super motion picture ever made

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Genres:

Short | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

This version was unauthorized, and its makers were successfully sued for copyright infringement.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years at the Movies (1994)

User Reviews

Fair Short

Ben Hur (1907)

** (out of 4)

The first version of the classic novel has a bit of history behind it but the actual film doesn't hold up. We get Herman Rottger playing Ben Hur, the man who becomes a slave and will eventually revolt and go up against Messala (William S. Hart). For starters, if anyone tries comparing this to the 1925 or 1959 versions then they're really cheating all three films. This is a 13-minute short so there's a lot to get crammed in here and of course the story is going to have to bounce around and not spend too much time on one plot point. With that said, the end result here is pretty disappointing because none of the apparent five directors knew how to build any real suspense or to make us care about anything we're seeing. We can never really get into the actual story and it's hard to care for any of the characters. Another problem is that the film really doesn't even appear to try and do anything overly special. We get some very impressive costumes but that's about it. This movie remains entertaining as a curio if you've seen what films would follow. On the historic side, this was the first film to end up in court due to copyright violations so I guess all authors has this film to thank for filmmakers not being able to take their work without credit.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Release Date:

7 December 1907 (USA)

Also Known As:

Бен-Гур

Filming Locations:

Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kalem Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

15 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1