Ben-Hur (1925 film)

Ben-Hur
theatrical Poster
Directed by	Charles Brabin (uncredited) Fred Niblo
Produced by	Louis B. Mayer
Written by	June Mathis (adaptation) Carey Wilson (scenario and continuity) Bess Meredyth (continuity) Katharine Hilliker (titles) H.H. Caldwell (titles)
Based on	Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ  by Lew Wallace
Starring	Ramón Novarro Francis X. Bushman May McAvoy Betty Bronson
Music by	William Axt
Cinematography	Clyde De Vinna René Guissart Percy Hilburn Karl Struss Glenn Kershner
Editing by	Lloyd Nosler
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	December 30, 1925 (1925-12-30)
Running time	143 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent English intertitles
Budget	$3,967,000[1][2]
Box office	$10,738,000[1][2]

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a 1925 American epic silent film directed by Fred Niblo. It stars Ramón Novarro and Francis X. Bushman, and is based on the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace. The novel was first adapted for the screen in 1907 also titled Ben Hur.

In 1997, Ben-Hur was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Plot

Ben-Hur is a wealthy Jew and boyhood friend of the powerful Roman Tribune, Messala. When an accident leads to Ben-Hur's arrest, Messala, who has become corrupt and arrogant, makes sure Ben-Hur 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 Jesus, 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 in 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, in which Ben-Hur is the victor. However, Messala does not die, as he does in the more famous 1959 remake of the film.

Ben-Hur is eventually reunited with his mother and sister, who are suffering from leprosy but are miraculously cured by Jesus.^[3]

Cast

• Ramón Novarro as Judah Ben-Hur           
• Francis X. Bushman as Messala
• May McAvoy as Esther
• Betty Bronson as Mary
• 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

Crowd Extras During Chariot Race

• Reginald Barker
• John Barrymore
• Lionel Barrymore
• Clarence Brown
• Joan Crawford
• Marion Davies
• Douglas Fairbanks
• George Fitzmaurice
• Sidney Franklin
• John Gilbert
• Dorothy Gish
• Lillian Gish
• Samuel Goldwyn
• Sid Grauman
• Rupert Julian
• Henry King
• Harold Lloyd
• Colleen Moore
• Mary Pickford

Production

Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ had been a great success as a novel, and was adapted into a stage play which ran 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 Rome, Italy in October 1923 under the direction of Charles Brabin who was replaced shortly after filming began. Additional recastings (including Ramón Novarro as Ben-Hur) and a change of director caused the production's budget to skyrocket. After two years of difficulties and accidents, the production was eventually moved back to Los Angeles and production resumed in the spring of 1925. B. Reeves Eason and Christy Cabanne directed the second unit footage.^[4]

Costs eventually rose to $3.9 million,^[5] making Ben-Hur the most expensive film of the silent era (It is the second most expensive silent film ever made, after 2011's The Artist, but only because of modern inflation).^[6]

A total of 60,960 m (200,000 ft) of film was shot for the chariot race scene, which was eventually edited down to 229 m (750 ft).^[7] This scene has been much imitated. It was re-created virtually shot for shot in the 1959 remake, copied in Prince of Egypt, and more recently imitated in the pod race scene in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace which was made almost 75 years later.

"Chariot Race" painting by Alexander von Wagner as basis of the chariot set design/cinematography.

Some scenes in the film were in two-color Technicolor, most notably the sequences involving Jesus. One of the assistant directors for this sequence was a very young William Wyler, who would direct the 1959 remake. The black-and-white footage was color tinted and toned in the film's original release print.^[4]

Reception

The studio's publicity department was relentless in promoting the film, advertising it 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 $9 million worldwide, its huge expenses and the deal with Erlanger made it a net financial loss for MGM. It recorded an overall loss of $698,000.^[2]

In terms of publicity and prestige however, it was a great success. It helped establish the new MGM as a major studio.^[8][9]

The film was re-released in 1931 with an added musical score, by the original composers William Axt and David Mendoza, and sound effects. As the decades passed, the original two-color Technicolor segments were replaced by alternate black-and-white takes. Ben-Hur earned $1,352,000 during its re-release and made a profit of $779,000 meaning it had an overall profit of $81,000.^[2] It remains one of the few films at Rotten Tomatoes to maintain a 100% freshness rating.^[10]

Restoration

The Technicolor 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. 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 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra which was originally recorded for a Thames Television screening of the movie.

DVD release

Ben-Hur was released on DVD, complete with the Technicolor segments, in the four-disc collector's edition of the 1959 version starring Charlton Heston, as well as in the 2011 "Fiftieth Anniversary Edition" Blu-ray Collector's Edition three-disc box set.

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ben-Hur (1925 film).

• Ben-Hur at the Internet Movie Database
• Ben-Hur at allmovie
• Ben-Hur at Rotten Tomatoes