Ben-Hur is the second silent film (and first successful feature-length version) based on the book Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace.

Directed by Fred Niblo, this version of Ben-Hur first appeared in 1925. The film starred Ramon Novarro as the main character, with Francis X. Bushman as his friend "Messala" and May McAvoy as "Esther." It was known to be one of the most lavish and spectacular Hollywood productions of the silent movie era, reportedly costing 3.9 million, more than any other film had cost in that time dollars.As an show of this lavishness, some of the crowd scenes were reported to use up to 125,000 extras, even casting several big Hollywood stars of the time appeared as uncredited crowd extras during the chariot race.

The great chariot race scene (for which 60,960 m (200,000 feet) of film, which is the most footage for any film in cinema history, were shot – and they were eventually edited down to 229 m (750 feet)) but it is still regarded as a triumph of exciting film making and was much imitated, even so recently as the "pod race scene" in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace which was made almost 75 years later. Some of the scenes were in 2-strip Technicolor.

The film was directed by Charles Brabin , J.J. Cohn , and Fred Niblo, and was produced and distributed by MGM; the film made MGM's reputation as a heavyweight force in Hollywood. It was also the third highest grossing silent film in cinema history, taking in more than $5.5 million at the box office in 1925.

Later an early 1930s reissue added sound (i.e. music and sound effects tracks) so it became less of a silent film. But as the decades passed, the original Technicolor segments were replaced by black-and-white dubs. These scenes were considered lost until the 1980s when Turner Entertainment (who by then had acquired the rights to the film) found the crucial sequences in a Czech film archive.

Current prints of the 1925 version are of the Turner-supervised restoration, replete with the color tints and Technicolor sections to resemble the original theatrical release, but with the addition of a newly recorded stereo orchestral soundtrack by Carl Davis which was originally recorded for a Thames Television screening of the movie.

This film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

See also

• Ben-Hur: other uses

External links