A Tale of the Christ

General Lew Wallace's novel Ben-Hur: a Tale of the Christ was first filmed in 1907 as a silent short. In 1925 in was made into a full-length silent feature, the most expensive movie made up to that point.

In 1959 William Wyler (The Best Years of our Lives) directed his now famous version of the story. The screenplay was written by Karl Tuneberg, Christopher Fry, and Gore Vidal.

Wyler chose Charleton Heston (Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green) to play the lead, Juda Ben-Hur. The film opens when Juda's boyhood friend, Massala (Stephen Boyd) returns to Judea from Rome. Massala is an important Roman, and will be second in command of the occupation force. The friendship between Juda and Massala quickly falls apart.
This rift is mostly over politics, but there is a subtext that many viewers will miss. In the first version of the script reference was made to an earlier love affair between the two men.

Heston was never told this, and so played the scenes without that knowledge. Boyd, however, did know, and took pains to portray his character as a jilted lover. Gore Vidal has stated that this sub plot was one of his greatest contributions to the film. Many will remember Vidal for his novel Myra Breckinridge, which also dealt with matters of sexuality when such topics were taboo.

Juda finds himself wrongly accused, and sentenced to life as a galley slave. The scenes in the galley are wonderful to watch for Heston’s bold, powerful performance. The sea battle that follows is one of the most magnificent effects sequences ever filmed.

During his imprisonment he saves the life of a Roman Counsel, Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins). Juda is adopted by this man, and returns to Judea in triumph. At this point, roughly two hours into the film, the story really takes off. The chariot race, which is the films centerpiece, is one of the most famous sequences ever put on film, and rightly so. A level of adrenaline rush excitement builds throughout the scene. The chariot race is cinema at its best.
It is interesting to compare the same sequence in the silent version, and note that it never attains the same level of excitement, or drama.

The chariot race has been copied, and lampooned in dozens of films. most recently Star Wars: Episode I the Phantom Menace.

On an interesting historical note: There is a myth that a man was killed during the filming of the race, and that the footage remains in the film. That event actuallly occurred during the making of the 1925 silent version., and the footage was excised from release prints of the film. This myth, like the hanging dwarf in The Wizard of Oz, and the ghost in Three Men and a Baby has refused to go away for decades.

Ben-Hur is an exciting, well acted film. Unfortunately the final thirty minutes turn into religious propaganda. The salvation of Juda’s mother and sister is pat, and too easy. The juxtaposition between the crucifixion and Juda’s enlightenment seems hokey, and a bit cliche.

The ending is too open, and leaves many ambiguities. One is left to wonder at Juda's final coldness toward his adopted father. And what of his relationship with Ester (Haya Harareet)? Will they marry? Will he return to Rome?

This film won eleven Oscars, and deservedly so. Nearly every minute of its epic length is fascinating to watch. The music, by Miklos Rozsa is triumphant. We are used to movie music calling attention to itself, however it rarely deserves to. This score does deserve to be noticed. It beautifully carries the action, like a wave carrying a ship.

Until Titanic this film held the record for the most Oscars won by a single film. It is sad that such a fine film as this must now share that record with such poorly made dreck as Titanic.


A final note: this film is the perfect argument for letterboxing. In the pan and scan version many scenes make no sense, some characters are lost completely, and the beauty of the framing is destro