Ben Hur
1959’s Ben Hur is the epitome of the epic movie. It is certainly one of the largest films ever made, with 300 sets spread out over 340 acres. The production cost $15 million, which was a small fortune at the time, and was designed to help pull MGM out of potential bankruptcy. Ben Hur was considered a major gamble, but it was a gamble that paid off as the film grossed $75 million. The production’s technical merits have been widely celebrated, too, especially the use of the filming process (MGM Camera 65). The film was created using one of the widest prints ever made and various special lenses were used to enhance the film’s immense aspect ratio.
Ben Hur is most assuredly a big film. It may well be the ultimate big film. Directed by William Wyler, Ben Hur contains some of the most famous epic sequences in film history. It picked up an astounding eleven Academy Awards, which is a feat only equalled by Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and Titanic. Ben Hur won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, and a pile of effects and set design awards. The film also won four Golden Globe awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director. Wyler’s film ranked at 72nd on AFI’s Best American Movies list and appears on several other AFI lists. It was also selected for preservation by the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally significant.
Ben Hur is actually the third version of Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ.” The epic story takes place in the time of Jesus Christ and many moments in the story intersect, but Ben Hur is not a tale about Christ nor does it particularly have much to do with Christianity, although there are some strong parallels. Charlton Heston stars as Judah Ben Hur, a rich Jewish prince living in Jerusalem. Roman rule is imposing its will on the land, however, and one of Judah’s childhood friends happens to be an important member of the Roman garrison. His friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), believes in the ultimate power of Rome and wants Judah to hand over his land to Roman rule with no questions asked. Judah aims to fight for his land, however, claiming that his people will not bow to the Romans.
This sets off an epic turn of events that eventually leads Judah on to a slave ship. After an adventure on the high seas, Judah winds up rescuing an important Roman official and is whisked away to the pomp and circumstance as Rome, where he is given privilege in Rome and rises through the ranks. The story flows through these events with elegance and Judah never forgets the betrayal of Messala that left his family in exile. With vengeance on his mind, Judah continues his journey and takes part in a brutal and exciting chariot race in Rome. He returns to Jerusalem for vengeance, but ultimately discovers that there is more to life than revenge and that the changing tides of life are unavoidable.
The final runtime of Ben Hur is 212 minutes, but there are versions that contain more footage and push this runtime even further. With such a colossal runtime, the film actually speeds by with its audacious storytelling and its commanding performances. Nothing lags in Ben Hur and the glorious scope of the film is persistent in its appeal. Heston, as much as I hate to admit it, is wonderful as Judah and his emotion is kept well at bay. He is an incredibly appealing lead hero and he performs some of the more demanding scenes with tact and balance. Boyd as Messala is also great in a tricky role of friendship and betrayal. The complexities of the relationship between the two childhood friends are some of the most immersive moments of the film.
The role of Judah was an interesting one to cast, with several other actors considered before Heston was finally chosen. Burt Lancaster claimed he turned down the role of Judah because he was opposed to the violent morality in the story. Rock Hudson was also offered the role, as was Paul Newman, who turned it down because he “didn’t have the legs for a tunic.” Kirk Douglas wanted the role, but was turned down. After his rejection, Douglas pressured studios and directors to one-up Wyler’s epic. This resulted in the 1960 Kubrick-directed Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas of course.
One can’t talk about Ben Hur without mentioning two spectacular sequences: the galley sequence and the famed chariot race. The galley sequence was filmed in a studio because the boat constructed to house the “slaves” wouldn’t float because it was so heavy. As a result, the studio needed to construct a boat that could be cut in half so that the cameras could fit in. Filming the sequence was quite troublesome for a myriad of reasons, including that the oars for the boat were too long. The galley sequence is purely fictional, as Roman naval fleets did not employ prisoners to serve as galley slaves. It is an incredible sequence, as the commands of the Roman get more and more intense and the following sea battle is equally scintillating.
The other famous sequence in Ben Hur is the incredible chariot race. Many other films owe a lot to the chariot race from Ben Hur, especially Gladiator. Ridley Scott, director of Gladiator, cites Ben Hur as one of his influences. The chariot race is still considered one of the most spectacular sequences ever filmed, even by today’s studio standards. The sequence took over three months to shoot and was created on a set in Rome that was built to be about 18 acres. 8000 extras were used and the set became so famous that tour buses stopped by on a routine basis. The sequence has been the victim of rumours, too. One such rumour is that a stuntman died during the filming, but there is no evidence of this occurrence and Wyler and the film’s stunt director, Yakima Canutt, deny this.
Ben Hur is worth seeing for the grandeur and the scope of it all. It is the epitome of the epic film and lays the framework for many other similar sand-and-sandals type epics. There are other epics, such as my favourite film Lawrence of Arabia and the aforementioned Spartacus, which also served to influence some of modern cinema’s similar films, like Mel Gibson’s Braveheart and Scott’s Gladiator. Yet something about Wyler’s classic still makes it one of the best and most fascinating to experience. It is a film well-worthy of its awards and accolades and stands as a very powerful narrative of betrayal and epic adventure.
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