Ben-Hur

"Ben-Hur" is the lavish and classic 1959 film by MGM that is based on an 1880 novel by Lew Wallace, "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ." It is a remake of MGM's 1925 silent film that had the full title of the novel. The story is a fictional adventure set in the time of Christ. The religious aspect is toned down and subtly built into this adaptation of Wallace's story, beginning with an opening scene of the nativity.

The film plot centers around the family of Judah Ben-Hur during the time the Roman Empire occupied Israel. The main characters are Judah and Messala. The latter is a Roman soldier who grew up as a boyhood friend of Judah. The Ben-Hurs were a wealthy family with a trade business. Now, in adult times the two men become enemies - until Judah's interior conversion. That occurs after chance encounters with a mysterious man. He later learns that this is Jesus of Nazareth, whom Esther and some others think may be the promised Messiah.

The film has a great cast of the day. Charlton Heston gives an Oscar-winning performance as Judah Ben-Hur. And Hugh Griffith won best supporting actor for his role of Sheik Ilderim. All of the cast excel - Jack Hawkins as Quintus Arrius, Stephen Boyd as Messala, Martha Scott as Miriam, Sam Jaffe as Simonides, Frank Thring as Pontius Pilate, and more. In its day, this film was the most expensive movie ever made, at just over $15 million. But its box office was nearly 10 times that amount. "Ben-Hur" was the first film to win 11 Oscars at the Academy Awards. Only two more films have accomplished that since then. They are "Titanic" of 1997 and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" of 2003.

From the time MGM first announced it would remake the film in color, it took several years to get it done. It went through a number of planned casting changes, and screenplays and rewrites. If for nothing else, this movie likely always will be known for its spectacular chariot race. It took nearly a year just to plan the race, acquire the horses, build the chariots, and train and practice for the race.

At 18 acres, the race arena was the largest film set ever made to that time. It took 1,000 men a year to make the track in a rock quarry. That was done so it would look real -- like the historic circus that had been in Jerusalem. It took more than 40,000 tons of sand from the Mediterranean to cover the race track. Numerous other aspects made the chariot race so unique and unlikely ever to be repeated for real. Charlton Heston was an accomplished rider and horse handler already. But when he got to Rome he took daily three-hour lessons in chariot driving. He had special contact lenses to protect his eyes from injury by the dirt kicked up by the horses.

The chariot race is an historic feature of this film. It's not likely that modern moviemakers would ever again go to such lengths to have and film such a realistic race. Just look at the 2016 revised "Ben-Hur" film with its heavy use of CGI. The crash scenes in that chariot race are almost laughable.

This tremendous film was greatly condensed and adapted from a novel of more than 500 pages. And, the story of the book author himself, is fascinating. Lewis Wallace (1827-1905) was a man of many talents and careers. He was a soldier, a lawyer, a politician and a diplomat. His writing career overlapped all of these. Wallace served in the Mexican-American War and fought in the American Civil War. He commanded an Indiana regiment of the Union Army and took part in several battles. He later rose to the rank of Maj. General. He served nearly four years as governor of the New Mexico Territory (1878-1881). And he was U. S. minister to the Ottoman Empire from 1881 to 1885. After that he retired to continue his writing career which began with publication of his first book in 1873, "The Fair God."

Wallace wrote his adventure novel, "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ," as a story of revenge and redemption. He worked on it for several years during his military postings. When it was published in 1880, the book made Wallace famous and wealthy. It was translated into seven languages and became popular around the world. It sold more than 400,000 copies in less than a decade. By 1900, it had become the best-selling American novel of the 19th century.

This is an epic film with a message that is subtly delivered in a most entertaining package. The actors all show the right amounts of various emotions throughout. The sets and settings, and filming and color are superb in all respects. Audiences should enjoy this film for generations to come.