Ben-Hur (1959 film)

 

Ben-Hur (1959 film)

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Ben-Hur
Original film poster by Reynold Brown
Directed by	William Wyler
Produced by	Sam Zimbalist
Screenplay by	Karl Tunberg Uncredited: Gore Vidal Christopher Fry Maxwell Anderson S. N. Behrman
Based on	Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace
Narrated by	Finlay Currie
Starring	Charlton Heston Jack Hawkins Haya Harareet Stephen Boyd Hugh Griffith
Music by	Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography	Robert L. Surtees
Editing by	John D. Dunning Ralph E. Winters
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	November 18, 1959 (1959-11-18)
Running time	212 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$146,900,000 (initial release)

Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic historical drama film set in ancient Rome, directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. It won a record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, an accomplishment that was not equalled until Titanic in 1997.

A remake of the 1925 silent film with the same name, Ben Hur was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay is credited to Karl Tunberg but includes contributions from Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The film was the most expensive ever made at the time, and its sets were the largest yet built for a film. The picture contains a nine-minute chariot race which has become one of cinema's most famous sequences. The score composed by Miklós Rózsa was highly influential on cinema for more than 15 years, and is the longest ever composed for a film.

 

Plot

In AD 26, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a wealthy prince and merchant in Jerusalem. His childhood friend, the Roman citizen Messala (Stephen Boyd), is now a tribune. After several years away from Jerusalem, Messala returns as the new commander of the Roman garrison. Messala believes in the glory of Rome and its imperial power, while Ben-Hur is devoted to his faith and the freedom of the Jewish people. Messala asks Ben-Hur for the names of Jews who criticize the Romans. Ben-Hur refuses, angering Messala.

Ben-Hur lives with his mother, Miriam (Martha Scott), and sister, Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell). Their loyal slave Simonides (Sam Jaffe) is preparing for an arranged marriage for his daughter, Esther (Haya Harareet). Ben-Hur gives Esther her freedom as a wedding present, and the audience is shown that Ben-Hur and Esther are in love even though her marriage to another man is imminent.

During the parade for the new governor of Judea, Valerius Gratus, a tile falls from the roof of Ben-Hur's house. Gratus is thrown from his horse and nearly killed. Although Messala knows this was an accident, he condemns Ben-Hur to the galleys and imprisons Miriam and Tirzah. By punishing a known friend and prominent citizen, he hopes to intimidate the Jewish populace. Ben-Hur swears to take revenge. Dying of thirst when his slave gang arrives at Nazareth, Ben-Hur collapses. But a local carpenter (who the audience realizes is Jesus) gives him water.

After three years as a galley slave, Ben-Hur is assigned to the flagship of the Roman Consul Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who has been charged with destroying a fleet of Macedonian pirates. Arrius admires Ben-Hur's self-discipline and offers to train him as a gladiator or charioteer. Ben-Hur declines the offer, declaring that God will aid him in his quest for vengeance.

The Roman fleet encounters the Macedonians. Arrius orders all the rowers except Ben-Hur to be chained to their benches. Arrius' galley is rammed and sunk, but Ben-Hur unchains the other rowers, and saves Arrius' life. Arrius believes the battle ended in defeat, but Ben-Hur prevents him from committing suicide. Ben-Hur and Arrius are rescued, and Arrius is credited with the Roman fleet's victory. The consul successfully petitions Emperor Tiberius (George Relph) to free Ben-Hur, and adopts him as his son. Several years pass off-screen. Now wealthy, Ben-Hur learns Roman ways and becomes a champion charioteer, but longs for his family and homeland.

Ben-Hur returns to Judea. Along the way, he meets Balthasar (Finlay Currie) and an Arab sheik, Ilderim (Hugh Griffith). The sheik has heard of Ben-Hur's prowess as a charioteer, and asks him to drive his quadriga in a race before the new Judean governor Pontius Pilate (Frank Thring). Ben-Hur declines, even after he learns that champion charioteer Messala will also compete.

Ben-Hur returns to his home in Jerusalem. He meets Esther, and learns her arranged marriage did not occur and that she is still in love with him. He visits Messala and demands his mother and sister's freedom. The Romans discover that Miriam and Tirzah contracted leprosy in prison, and expel them from the city. The women beg Esther to conceal their condition from Ben-Hur, so she tells him that his mother and sister died. It is then that he changes his mind and decides to seek vengeance on Messala by competing against him in the chariot race.

During the chariot race, Messala drives a chariot with blades on the hubs to tear apart competing vehicles. In the violent and grueling race, Messala attempts to destroy Ben-Hur's chariot but destroys his own instead. Messala is mortally injured, while Ben-Hur wins the race. Before dying, Messala tells Ben-Hur that "the race is not over" and that he can find his family "in the Valley of the Lepers, if you can recognize them." Ben-Hur visits the nearby leper colony, where (hidden from their view) he sees his mother and sister.

Esther hears Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount, and tells Ben-Hur about the message of peace and forgiveness she heard. Blaming Roman rule for his family's fate, Ben-Hur rejects his patrimony and Roman citizenship. Learning that Tirzah is dying, Ben-Hur and Esther take her and Miriam to see Jesus, but the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate has begun. Jesus begins his march to Calvary and stumbles before Ben-Hur. Recognizing Jesus from their earlier meeting, Ben-Hur attempts to give him water but guards separate them.

Ben-Hur witnesses the crucifixion of Jesus. Miriam and Tirzah are miraculously healed. Ben-Hur tells Esther that he heard Jesus talk of forgiveness while on the cross, and says "I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand." His hatred finally relinquished, he is emotionally reunited with his mother and sister in the film's final moments.

[edit] Cast

• Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur
• Jack Hawkins as Quintus Arrius
• Haya Harareet as Esther
• Stephen Boyd as Messala
• Hugh Griffith as Sheik Ilderim
• Martha Scott as Miriam
• Cathy O'Donnell as Tirzah
• Sam Jaffe as Simonides
• Finlay Currie as Balthasar and the narrator
• Frank Thring as Pontius Pilate
• Terence Longdon as Drusus
• George Relph as Tiberius Caesar
• André Morell as Sextus