Ben-Hur (1925 film)
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| Ben-Hur | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Fred Niblo |
| Produced by | Louis B. Mayer |
| Written by | Story: Lew Wallace Screenplay: June Mathis Carey Wilson |
| Starring | Ramon Novarro Francis X. Bushman May McAvoy Betty Bronson |
| Release date(s) | December 30, 1925 |
| Running time | 143 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Ben Hur was a 1925 silent film directed by Fred Niblo. It was a blockbuster hit for newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This was the second film based on the novel Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace.
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[edit] Plot
Judah Ben-Hur is a wealthy Jew and boyhood friend of the powerful Roman, Messala. When an accident leads to Ben-Hur's arrest, Messala makes sure he and his family are jailed and separated.
Ben-Hur is sent to work in the galley of a Roman warship. Along the way he unknowingly encounters Christ, the carpenter's son who offers him water. Once aboard ship, his attitude of defiance and strength impresses a Roman Admiral, Quintus Arrius, who allows him to remain unchained. This actually works to the Admiral's favor because when his ship is attacked and sunk by pirates, Ben-Hur saves him from drowning.
Arrius then treats Ben-Hur as a son and over the years, the young man grows strong and becomes a victorious chariot racer. This eventually leads to a climactic showdown with Messala in a chariot race.
[edit] Cast
- Ramon Novarro as Judah Ben-Hur
- Francis X. Bushman as Messala
- May McAvoy as Esther
- Betty Bronson as Mary
- Claire McDowell as Princess of Hur
- Kathleen Key as Tirzah
- Carmel Myers as Iras
- Nigel De Brulier as Simonides
- Mitchell Lewis as Sheik Ilderim
- Leo White as Sanballat
- Frank Currier as Quintus Arrius
- Charles Belcher as Balthazar
- Dale Fuller as Amrah
- Winter Hall as Joseph
[edit] Background
Costing between 4 and 6 million dollars, Ben-Hur is the most expensive silent film ever made.
Ben-Hur was a big success as a novel, and also as a stage play. Stage productions had been running for twenty-five years. In 1922, two years after the play's last tour, the Goldwyn company purchased the film rights to Ben-Hur. The play's producer, Abraham Erlanger, put a heavy price on the screen rights. Erlanger was persuaded to accept a generous profit participation deal and total approval over every detail of the production.
Shooting began in Italy in 1923, starting two years of difficulties, accidents, and eventually a move back to Hollywood. Additional recastings (including Ramon Navarro as Ben-Hur) and a change of director helped skyrocket the production's budget. The studio's publicity department was shameless, advertising the film with lines like: "The Picture Every Christian Ought to See!" Although audiences flocked to Ben-Hur after its premiere in 1925 and the picture grossed nine million dollars, its huge expenses and the deal with Erlanger made it a loser for MGM. MGM was unable to regain its $4,000,000 investment.[1][2]
A total of 60,960 m (200,000 feet) of film was shot for the chariot race scene which was eventually edited down to 229 m (750 feet). This scene has been much imitated. It was re-created virtually shot for shot in the 1959 remake, and more recently imitated in the "pod race scene" in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace which was made almost 75 years later. Some scenes in the film were in two-color Technicolor. One of the assistant directors for this sequence was a very young William Wyler, who would encounter Ben-Hur again 33 years later to direct the 1959 remake.
[edit] Reissue
A 1931 reissue added music, by the original composers William Axt and David Mendoza, and sound effects. As the decades passed, the original Technicolor segments were replaced by black-and-white dubs. These scenes were considered lost until the 1980s when Turner Entertainment (who by then had acquired the rights to the film) found the crucial sequences in a Czech film archive.
[edit] Restoration
Current prints of the 1925 version are from the Turner-supervised restoration. The restoration includes the color tints and Technicolor sections, set to resemble the original theatrical release. There is an addition of a newly recorded stereo orchestral soundtrack by Carl Davis which was originally recorded for a Thames Television screening of the movie.
Ben-Hur has been selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The Making and Release of Ben-Hur. findarticles.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
- ^ Commentary on Ben-Hur. www.albany.edu. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
