Ben-Hur is a 1959 film directed by William Wyler and is, today, the best-known version of the film based on the Ben-Hur book by Lew Wallace. It was done in the spectacular block buster style, and featured Charlton Heston as Judah ben-Hur and Stephen Boyd as Messala. It premiered at Loew's Theater in New York City on November 18, 1959.

This version won a stunning 11 Academy Awards (a number matched only by two other movies in the history of Academy Awards - Titanic in 1997 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003).

The movie was filmed in a process known as "MGM Camera 65", a 70mm anamorphic print at an aspect ratio of 2.76:1, considered to be one of the widest prints ever made, having a width of almost three times its height. This allowed for spectacular panoramic shots in addition to four-channel audio.

Even by today's standards, the chariot race in Ben-Hur is widely considered to be one of the most spectacular action sequences ever filmed. The lack of computer-generated effects, the visually astonishing MGM Camera 65 process, and excellent cinematography made the chariot race one of the most memorable scenes in modern cinema.

This was a successful attempt to save MGM from bankruptcy.

MGM received over 40 scripts.

Awards

• Academy Award for Best Picture - Sam Zimbalist , producer
• Academy Award for Best Actor - Charlton Heston
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - Hugh Griffith
• Academy Award for Directing - William Wyler
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Color - Edward C. Carfagno , William A. Horning , and Hugh Hunt
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color - Robert Surtees
• Academy Award for Costume Design, Color - Elizabeth Haffenden
• Best Effects, Special Effects - A. Arnold Gillespie (visual), Milo B. Lory (audible), and Robert MacDonald (visual)
• Best Film Editing - John D. Dunning , and Ralph E. Winters
• Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Miklós Rózsa
• Best Sound - Franklin Milton

The film was also nominated for one further award

• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - Karl Tunberg

Synopsis

Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Together with the new governor his old friend Messala arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. At first they are happy to meet after a long time but their different politic views separate them. During the welcome parade a brick falls down from Judah's house and barely misses the governor. Although Messala knows that they are not guilty he sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. But Judah swears to come back and take revenge.

See also

• Ben-Hur: other uses

External links