49 Fun Facts About Ben-Hur

Who directed the 1959 film Ben-Hur?

Wyler had been one of 30 assistant directors on the 1925 silent version and later joked that it took a Jew to make a good film about Christ.

How many Academy Awards did Ben-Hur (1959) win, a record at the time?

Ben-Hur won eleven Academy Awards from twelve nominations at the April 1960 ceremony, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director.

Who wrote the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ?

Lew Wallace, a Union general at Shiloh, published Ben-Hur through Harper & Brothers on November 12, 1880, and later retired to Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Which best-selling novel did Ben-Hur surpass to become the top-selling American novel of the 19th century?

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) had been the century's best-selling American novel until Ben-Hur's sales passed it, a lead Ben-Hur then held for decades.

Ben-Hur was the first novel ever to receive what honor?

Pope Leo XIII blessed it, fitting for a book called the most influential Christian work of the 19th century.

Which office was the novel's author holding when Ben-Hur was published?

The author was Governor of New Mexico Territory from 1878 to 1881, finishing the novel in Santa Fe while contending with the Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid.

An 1876 train talk with which famous agnostic spurred the author to finish his book about Christ?

Ingersoll invited him into his railroad compartment on the way to Indianapolis and challenged his beliefs; the author had already drafted a serial about the Magi.

How did the 1899 Broadway stage version of Ben-Hur pull off the chariot race?

The horses galloped full-tilt toward the audience, held by steel cable traces; the show opened November 29, 1899, and toured for two decades.

Who starred as Ben-Hur in the 1925 silent film?

George Walsh was fired on location in Italy and replaced by Novarro; Bushman played Messala. The film became the costliest of the silent era.

Which scenes of the 1925 Ben-Hur were shot in two-color Technicolor?

The color segments were later replaced by black-and-white takes for decades before restoration.

What was Ben-Hur's 1959 production budget, the largest of any film to that point?

The final budget was $15.175 million, up from an initial $7 million, making Ben-Hur the most expensive film yet made when MGM staked its future on it.

Which 1956 Paramount hit inspired MGM to revive its long-stalled Ben-Hur remake?

The Ten Commandments, DeMille's 1956 Paramount epic, proved biblical spectacle could sell, so MGM, weakened by losing its theater chains, greenlit its own Ben-Hur remake.

Why does the MGM lion stay silent at the start of Ben-Hur instead of doing its usual thing?

Wyler got permission to open with a quiet Leo so the sacred Bethlehem scene would not be undercut.

Which star turned down the role of Ben-Hur saying he did not have the legs to wear a tunic?

Paul Newman turned down Judah Ben-Hur, saying he did not have the legs to wear a tunic; Kirk Douglas wanted the lead but was offered Messala instead.

Which Welsh actor won Best Supporting Actor for playing Sheik Ilderim?

Hugh Griffith, born on Anglesey, won Best Supporting Actor as Sheik Ilderim, the horse-loving Arab whose team Judah drives in the chariot race.

Which Northern Irish actor played Messala, winning a Golden Globe?

Stephen Boyd, born near Belfast, wore brown contact lenses as Messala because the director wanted his eyes to contrast with Heston's; he won the 1960 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

Which Israeli actress played Judah's love interest in the 1959 Ben-Hur?

Haya Harareet, who debuted in the 1955 Israeli film Hill 24 Doesn't Answer, later married British director Jack Clayton.

Which writer claimed he gave the Judah–Messala reunion a homoerotic subtext?

Vidal made the claim in The Celluloid Closet (1995); Heston denied it, and a bitter credit dispute left Tunberg with sole screenplay credit.

In the film, what accident lets Messala condemn Judah to the galleys?

The tile falls from the Hur roof during the new governor's parade; Miriam and Tirzah are jailed and later contract leprosy.

Which Roman consul does Judah save from drowning, who then adopts him?

Jack Hawkins played Arrius. Emperor Tiberius gives Judah to Arrius as a slave, and Judah becomes a champion charioteer in Rome.

How was the sea battle in the 1959 film staged?

An artificial lake was built at the Rome studio for the galley scenes, but the battle itself was model work back in California.

In which Rome studio complex was Ben-Hur (1959) chiefly shot?

Cinecittà, on the outskirts of Rome, hosted principal photography from May 1958; its 18-acre chariot arena was among the largest film sets ever built.

Roughly how long is the film's chariot race sequence?

The chariot race fills about nine minutes of screen time; Andrew Marton directed the second unit in an arena modeled on a historic circus in Jerusalem.

Which future spaghetti Western director worked as a senior assistant on the chariot race's second unit?

Leone handled retakes; a few years later he was making A Fistful of Dollars.

Which stuntman was thrown into the air in the race's most famous near-fatal accident?

He escaped with a minor chin injury, and the shot of Judah being flung over the front of his chariot stayed in the film.

What breed of horses played Ben-Hur's 'Arabian' team in the chariot race?

Andalusians played Judah's white 'Arabian' team, while the rival chariots ran mostly Lipizzans; 78 horses were imported from Yugoslavia and Sicily in November 1957 and trained for months.

Who played Pontius Pilate in the 1959 Ben-Hur?

Frank Thring, an Australian actor, played Pontius Pilate, who presides over the chariot race and places the victor's wreath on Judah's head.

How many horses were used in the making of the 1959 film, according to MGM?

MGM said 2,500 horses and more than 200 camels were used, alongside some 10,000 extras; the costume department turned out over 100,000 costumes and 1,000 suits of armor.

Who composed the score, then the longest ever written for a film?

He won his third Oscar for it, having researched Greek and Roman music for authenticity, and conducted the 100-piece MGM orchestra himself.

Which uncredited opera singer played Jesus, whose face is never shown?

Claude Heater, an American opera singer, was performing in Rome with the Vienna State Opera when he was asked to screen test; the camera never shows his face.

What happened to producer Sam Zimbalist during filming in November 1958?

Sam Zimbalist died of a heart attack on November 4, 1958, after a day on the set; the Best Picture Oscar he received for Ben-Hur was posthumous.

Where did Ben-Hur premiere on November 18, 1959?

Ben-Hur had its world premiere at Loew's State Theatre in Times Square, New York, on November 18, 1959, opening as a reserved-seat roadshow engagement.

At the time of its release, Ben-Hur was the second highest-grossing film ever, behind which title?

It was the top earner of 1959 and, along with the novel, sat just behind Margaret Mitchell's epic on both the film and book charts.

What widescreen process was Ben-Hur (1959) filmed in?

Ben-Hur was shot in MGM Camera 65, a 65 mm anamorphic process later marketed as Ultra Panavision 70, with an aspect ratio of 2.76:1.

Which subplot from the novel did screenwriter Karl Tunberg cut entirely?

Tunberg dropped Judah faking his death to raise a Jewish army for the expected King, along with the novel's epilogue set years after the crucifixion.

How did Wyler's Ben-Hur salary compare with what other filmmakers of the day were earning?

He got a $350,000 base plus 8 percent of the gross or 3 percent of net, and admitted he wanted to outdo Cecil B. DeMille with a 'thinking man's' epic.

Which three films earned Wyler his Oscars for directing?

Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and Ben-Hur (1959) each also won Best Picture; Wyler was nominated twelve times for directing over his career.

Which biblical figure had Charlton Heston played in his star-making film three years before Ben-Hur?

Charlton Heston played Moses for Cecil B. DeMille in 1956, parting the Red Sea on screen; he later served five terms as president of the NRA.

In the film's ending, what happens to Miriam and Tirzah's leprosy?

They shelter in a cave with Esther during the storm; when it lifts they are healed, and Judah embraces forgiveness over revenge.

Who directed the 2016 remake of Ben-Hur?

Timur Bekmambetov, the Kazakh-born director of Wanted (2008), directed the 2016 Ben-Hur for Paramount and MGM, with Mark Burnett and Roma Downey among its producers.

Who played Judah Ben-Hur in the 2016 film?

Jack Huston, grandson of director John Huston, played Judah; Toby Kebbell was Messala, Rodrigo Santoro Jesus and Morgan Freeman the sheik Ilderim.

How did the 2016 Ben-Hur fare commercially?

The 2016 Ben-Hur flopped, grossing about $94 million worldwide against a $100 million production budget, and reviews were largely negative.

Which of the three wise men reappears in the novel as Judah's mentor?

Balthasar, the Egyptian among the novel's three wise men, later meets Judah near Antioch and tells him the King he awaits will rule a spiritual kingdom.

In what year was Ben-Hur added to the National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress added Ben-Hur to the National Film Registry in 2004; the AFI had already ranked it the 72nd greatest American film in 1998.

In the novel, which devoted servant secretly brings food to the leprous Miriam and Tirzah?

Amrah, the Hur household's Egyptian nurse, stays on in the sealed palace and secretly carries food to Miriam and Tirzah after finding them among the lepers.

What did the 1907 Kalem film of Ben-Hur establish in a landmark 1911 Supreme Court ruling?

Kalem Company's 15-minute 1907 Ben-Hur, shot without permission, lost Kalem v. Harper Brothers (1911), the Supreme Court holding that filming a novel without rights infringes its copyright.

So impressed was President Garfield by Ben-Hur that he sent Lew Wallace as US Minister to where?

Wallace served in Constantinople from 1881 to 1885; Ulysses S. Grant and Jefferson Davis were also enthusiastic fans of the book.

How did the 1899 stage version solve Wallace's objection that no actor could portray Christ?

Christ was represented by a beam of light, dramatist William Young's solution, which won the author over; the Klaw and Erlanger production opened November 29, 1899.

In which languages was all the dialogue of the 2009 arena show Ben Hur Live in London?

Ben Hur Live's dialogue was all in Latin and Aramaic, with English narration, when it opened at London's O2 Arena in September 2009 with music by Stewart Copeland.