47 Fun Facts About Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur's eleven Oscars went unmatched until which film equaled them nearly four decades later?

Titanic matched the eleven wins in 1998, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King followed in 2004 by winning every category it was up for, which Ben-Hur had not.

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

Lew Wallace, a Civil War general, wrote most of it under a beech tree at his Indiana home; by his own account he began indifferent to religion and finished the book a convinced believer.

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

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) had held the record until Ben-Hur overtook it around 1900, a slow-burn success: the novel was no immediate hit and took about two years to gain momentum.

Which Roman emperor appears in the 1959 Ben-Hur, ruling at the time of the story?

Tiberius, played by George Relph, honours the fleet's victory in Rome and then hands Judah over as a slave to the commander whose life he saved.

Which office was the author of Ben-Hur holding when it 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.

A train-ride debate with which famous agnostic spurred the author of Ben-Hur to write about Christ?

Robert Ingersoll spent the journey questioning the evidence for God; the author, ashamed at how little he knew of his own religion, resolved to study it, and the research became the novel.

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

Live horses on treadmills galloped flat out toward the audience while a painted backdrop rolled past behind them; the show toured for 21 years and was seen by some 20 million people.

Who played the title role in the 1925 silent film Ben-Hur?

Ramon Novarro, 25 and only three years into starring roles, took over the lead from George Walsh during the troubled shoot in Italy; Francis X. Bushman played Messala.

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

The sequences involving Jesus were shot in two-color Technicolor; today's prints have that color back thanks to footage found in the Czech film archive in the 1980s.

Which was the only one of its twelve Oscar nominations that Ben-Hur failed to win?

Best Screenplay went to Room at the Top instead; observers blamed the public row over who really wrote Ben-Hur, after the Writers Guild gave Karl Tunberg sole credit.

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 is the MGM lion silent at the start of the 1959 Ben-Hur?

A roar would spoil the nativity scene, Wyler argued, so he got MGM's permission to open with a still, silent Leo ahead of the film's prologue in Bethlehem.

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

Paul Newman, unhappy with his earlier costume epic The Silver Chalice, flatly refused; Kirk Douglas wanted the part, lost it to Heston and went on to make Spartacus instead.

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

Hugh Griffith won the Oscar as Sheik Ilderim, the Arab horse-breeder who persuades Judah to drive his white team in the hope of humbling a Roman in the arena.

Which Northern Irish actor played Messala in the 1959 Ben-Hur, 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 character, Judah's love interest, did Israeli newcomer Haya Harareet play in the 1959 Ben-Hur?

Esther was Haya Harareet's first American film role; the screenwriters greatly expanded the part from the novel so that the story had a love interest from start to finish.

Which writer claimed to have given Ben-Hur's Judah–Messala reunion a homoerotic subtext?

Gore Vidal made the claim in the documentary The Celluloid Closet; Heston angrily denied it, and after a bitter credit dispute Karl Tunberg alone was named as screenwriter.

In the 1959 Ben-Hur, what accident lets Messala send Judah to the galleys?

Roof tiles fall near the governor as his procession passes the house of Hur: Tirzah had leaned on them, the horse threw its rider, and Messala, knowing it was an accident, punished the family anyway.

In the 1959 Ben-Hur, which Roman consul does Judah save from drowning, who then adopts him?

Quintus Arrius, played by Jack Hawkins, is pulled from the sea when his flagship sinks; back in Rome he makes Judah a champion charioteer and then his adopted son and heir.

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.

In the 1959 Ben-Hur, what gives Messala's chariot an unfair advantage in the race?

Blades on its wheels let Messala wreck one rival chariot after another, yet when he turns them on Judah the attack backfires and it is Messala who ends the race broken on the track.

Which future spaghetti Western director worked as an uncredited assistant on the 1959 Ben-Hur?

Sergio Leone's exact job on the Rome shoot is disputed, from second-unit assistant to production aide; that same year he got his break finishing The Last Days of Pompeii for its ailing director.

Heston's stunt double was accidentally flung over his chariot mid-race; what became of the shot?

It stayed in the film: Joe Canutt, son of stunt chief Yakima Canutt, got away with a cut chin, and a close-up of Heston scrambling back aboard was added so the accident became part of the race.

Sheik Ilderim names his four white chariot horses in Ben-Hur after what?

Stars: Rigel, Antares and Aldebaran among them. In the novel the sheik explains that desert Arabs depend on the stars at night, so they borrow their names in gratitude and give them in love.

Which Roman governor, played by Frank Thring, crowns Judah after the chariot race?

Pontius Pilate, an old friend of Judah's adoptive father, crowns him victor and later passes on an offer of Roman citizenship, which Judah hands back along with the family ring.

What does Jesus give Judah during the forced march to the galleys in the 1959 Ben-Hur?

A drink of water, given in Nazareth while a Roman guard stands back; years later Judah recognises the same man carrying his cross and tries to return the favour.

Who composed Ben-Hur's 1959 score, then the longest ever written for a film?

Miklós Rózsa researched ancient Greek and Roman music for it, then conducted the 100-piece MGM Symphony Orchestra himself across twelve recording sessions; it won him his third Oscar.

How does the 1959 Ben-Hur present Jesus?

Face never shown: Claude Heater, an opera singer, is filmed only from behind or at a distance and is never heard, even during the Sermon on the Mount.

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

He died of a heart attack: Sam Zimbalist collapsed on the Rome set on November 4, 1958 and was dead within hours, so the Best Picture Oscar his film won went to him posthumously.

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

Loew's State Theatre, New York, stood on Times Square and bore the name of the cinema chain that had founded MGM; a court-ordered split parted chain and studio that same year.

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

Gone with the Wind was MGM's own all-time champion, and Variety's reviewer predicted Ben-Hur would overtake it; instead it finished as the top earner of 1959 and second overall.

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

MGM Camera 65 squeezed an extra-wide 2.76:1 image onto 65 mm film; Wyler disliked the shape, complaining that you can't fill it, and the format lay unused for decades until The Hateful Eight revived it.

Which subplot of the novel Ben-Hur did screenwriter Karl Tunberg drop from the 1959 screen version?

Judah raising a secret Jewish army, after letting Rome believe him dead, fills the novel's later books; the film also dropped everything that follows the crucifixion.

What set William Wyler's Ben-Hur directing salary apart?

The largest yet paid for one film to a director: $350,000 up front plus a share of the takings. He also admitted he wanted to outdo Cecil B. DeMille with a thinking man's epic.

Which three films won Wyler his directing Oscars?

Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben-Hur each also won Best Picture; between the first two Wyler flew combat missions as a wartime documentary-maker and came home deaf in one ear.

Which biblical figure had Charlton Heston already played on screen before Ben-Hur?

Moses suited Heston's looks, DeMille decided: setting a sketch of the bearded actor beside a photograph of Michelangelo's statue of the prophet, he found the resemblance amazing.

At the end of the 1959 Ben-Hur, what happens to Miriam and Tirzah's leprosy?

It is healed at the crucifixion: sheltering from the storm that breaks as Jesus dies, the two women find their sores gone, and Judah comes home to find them cured.

Who directed the 2016 remake of Ben-Hur?

Timur Bekmambetov, director of Wanted, was at first reluctant to remake so famous a film; once persuaded, he staged the chariot race with real horses on a purpose-built track in Italy rather than relying on CGI.

Who played Judah in the 2016 remake of Ben-Hur?

Jack Huston first read for Messala; the director decided he had the sympathy and grit for the lead, and Toby Kebbell took the villain's part.

How did the 2016 Ben-Hur fare commercially?

It was a costly flop: about $94 million worldwide against a $100 million budget, with only $11 million from its U.S. opening weekend, leaving its backers tens of millions out of pocket.

Which of the three wise men reappears in the novel Ben-Hur 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.

Which institution's National Film Registry added Ben-Hur in 2004?

The Library of Congress adds 25 films a year for their cultural, historical or aesthetic weight; the 1925 silent Ben-Hur had already been chosen in 1997, seven years before the remake.

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

Amrah, the family's Egyptian maid, hides for years in the sealed Hur palace, scaring off buyers by playing its ghost, and carries a basket of bread and meat out to the lepers each morning.

What did Kalem's 1907 film of Ben-Hur lead the Supreme Court to rule in 1911?

Filming a novel needs the rights: Kalem shot its 15-minute Ben-Hur without asking, the author's son and publisher sued, and Justice Holmes's ruling cost the company $25,000.

President Garfield so admired Ben-Hur that he sent its author as U.S. Minister to which city?

Constantinople was offered within a month of Garfield finishing the novel; the author served at the Ottoman court from 1881 to 1885, and Ulysses S. Grant claimed to have read the book for thirty hours straight.

What stood in for Christ in Ben-Hur's 1899 stage version, since its author wanted no actor in the role?

A beam of light, the producers' promise that won the author over; William Young's script opened on Broadway on November 29, 1899 and the show ran for 21 years.

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

Latin and Aramaic carried every line of dialogue, for authenticity's sake, so Stewart Copeland of the Police, who also wrote the music, narrated the story for the O2 crowd.