1959--Ben-Hur, William Wyler

 1959--Ben-Hur, William Wyler

Nominated: Anatomy of a Murder, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Nun's Story, Room at the Top

Should have won: Ben-Hur

Be sure to see:A Bucket of Blood, The Killer Shrews, Imitation of Life, North by Northwest, Plan 9 From Outer Space

“I tell you every man of Judea is unclean and will stay unclean until we have scoured off our bodies the crust and filth of being at the mercy of tyranny. No other life is possible except to wash this land clean.”--Judah Ben-Hur

“One God, that I can understand. But one wife? That is not civilized. It is not generous.”--Sheik Ilderim

     The story goes back a long time. It has quite a history even before reaching the screen in 1959. According to the featurette, in 1880, General Lou Wallace wrote a book called Ben-Hur, setting it in the Bible, though his story is not actually in the Bible. The story went on to be a smash hit on the stage, (interestingly, a light was shown to depict Christ, not an actor) earning $10 million. In 1907, it was made into a movie without permission from the deceased author's family, so the producers were sued and the family won. It is said to be the first case of copyright infringement laws on the books, at least that is what the special features told me. It was remade in 1925, this time costing $4 million, an astronomical amount for the time, and some disastrous accidents occurred on the set. In the famous scene where the boat catches fire, the wind made the smoke increase at an alarming rate so crew and actors leaped overboard into the water.  Many of the people were extras and filled out the paperwork that they could swim simply to get the job. They lied and, consequently, some drown.
 

     Fast forward to the 1950s. Movies were losing their audience to television and to try to catch up the idea, another telling of Wallace's story was to hit the screen. This one struck gold. Even this one had some interesting behind the scenes tidbits. Charlton Heston was nowhere near the first choice for the role, Paul Newman or Marlon Brando were preferred. The long and expensive shoot caused producer Sam Zimbalist to die of a stroke.

  
      As for the film itself, it is one of the most grand experiences I've seen on the screen. The massive sets (the largest ever constructed) and amount of costumes were incredible. And the $15 million budget was the most expensive up to that time. The chariot race is the largest single set ever constructed, and is every bit as great as it is reputed to be.

  
     The story: The year is 26 A.D. and Judah Ben-Hur and his sister are watching the governor pass by in the streets below. His sister accidentally knocks a large stone off the roof, striking the governor. Judah takes the blame but he, his sister, and his mother are all arrested. He is taken to a ship where, for three years, he is to row with the other men in a grueling sequence. It is the climax of this famous scene where the fire occurred in the 1925 version. As for this one, as the men row faster and faster we sweat with them. When some of the men fall out from fatigue, we have to catch our breaths too.

  
      After the boat fire, Judah finds himself no longer a slave and begins racing a chariot. How he came to such fortune I'll let you find out, though I will say it comes by result of a scene that reminds me of Butch's decision to go back downstairs in Pulp Fiction. I'll leave it at that. In one of the most thrilling action sequences of all time, the nine minute chariot race is the heart of the film. I watched it twice. The horses move fast, the people not fast enough. People are thrown off and trampled and the crowd cheers. I was pretty giddy myself. Rumors spread that someone was actually killed but most think it is simply a story. Dummies were placed at precise locations to be trampled, and the horse/chariot pileup shot wasn't planned either; they really smashed into each other. But there was one casualty in the race though it was not a person but a camera. One of the few (and very expensive) 65mm cameras in the world was taken out by a team of horses.

  
     The climax of the film is very strong though the action had died down a bit. Judah finds his mother and sister living in the land of the lepers in a very heartbreaking scene. Then came the debated crucifixion scene, this time with an actor portraying Christ, not a shining light.

    
     Ben-Hur is a fantastic movie and is certainly one of the most visually stimulating you'll ever see. I'd still knock it to about a quarter of the way down the list of the winners if I were to rank them, though I'm not sure why. Maybe because individual scenes and technical aspects stand out more than the movie as a whole. But it certainly comes recommended. I would rank it as my second favorite Charlton Heston film. Everyone should see it once.