Ben Hur: 1959’s Ben Hur Remains One of the Greatest Film Epics Ever.

By the late 1950’s lavish, wide-screen spectaculars were clearly in danger of going the way of film noir and shoot-’em-up westerns, and dying from overexposure. Then in 1959 M-G-M provided what was instantly regarded as a landmark in the epic film genre: Ben Hur. Departing radically from the typical Cecil B. De Mille kind of historical religious saga, director William Wyler approached his subject in an extremely modern manner that balanced cineramic action with emotional interplay and human struggle, while forsaking overt religious themes in favor of humanistic adventure and personal faith.

Having worked for the superb director in a supporting role in the highly-touted film The Big Country the year before, actor Charlton Heston was ideally cast as the young Judah Ben Hur by William Wyler (other films: “The Best Years Of Our Lives” and “Mrs. Miniver”), and clearly understood what demands the role would place on him. As a matter of fact, during filming of the classic “chariot race,” Heston was almost killed or severely injured on several occasions and, before completion of the breath-taking scene, two stuntmen actually did lose their lives.

Still, the actor considered his role as an one-in-a-lifetime opportunity and undertook it with a skill and dramatic flair that eventurally won him the best acting Oscar for 1959.

Adapted to screen by screenwriter Karl Tunberg from the classic 1880 novel by General Lew Wallace (Civil War veteran, epic novelist and even governor of Arizona at one time!), Ben Hur presented characters who, despite the exotic costumes and locales, underwent tremendous character crises and personality changes that far exceeded other biblical spectacles of the era and with which movie viewers of every age and social class could relate and care about.

As the strong-willed member of the family of Judea, young Judah Ben Hur rebels against the virtual state of slavery under the Roman power of Emperor Tiberius (George Ralph), who is depicted in the film as an Hitler persona who has declared Roman people as the master race.

Ben Hur’s refusal to accept Roman rule leads him into a series of character-altering and life-threatening experiences including: winning the love of Esther (Haya Hayareet), a Hebrew maiden; lengthy imprisonment aboard a Roman ship-of-war and the subsequent massive sea battle; his adoption by Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), a stern but well-meaning Roman noble; his friendly enslavement under Sheik Ilderim (Hugh Griffith), a merchant of human flesh who pitches Ben Hur against his former childhood friend, the cruel young Roman Messala (Stephen Boyd) in the above-mentioned classic chariot race; as well as a brief encounter with Jesus Christ and the near-the-end, flawless crucifixion scene.

Though at first the story sounded like a comic book adventure or Sunday school lesson, it was elevated by Tunbeg’s excellent writing and by the vast scope and vision of Wyler’s direction. The spectacular sequences, the most awesome of their kind since Cinerama had been created, are still consider some of the best technical accomplishments in celluloid history.

Winner of 11 Academy Awards, the most ever for any film (including original soundtrack, direction and best movie), Ben Hur to this day stands as one of Hollywood’s most enjoyable and artsy achievements and is a total cinematic experience in which new, post-modern film techniques were combined with the emotional telling of an old, melodramatic tale.