Ben-Hur (1959 film)

But Judah swears to come back and take revenge. Although Messala knows that they are not guilty he sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. During the welcome parade a brick falls down from Judah's house and barely misses the governor. At first they are happy to meet after a long time but their different politic views separate them.

Together with the new governor his old friend Messala arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. The film was also nominated for one further award. To this day, Heston publically rejects the idea that there was ever any homosexual subtext to the film, even going so far as to rewrite part of his published book, revising his account of Vidal's role in the film.

However, Gore and Wyler felt that Heston could not handle such a character development and thus he was never told. Gore told Boyd about the homosexual subtext in the film, and Boyd played his role as Messala accordingly. Vidal suggested, and the director agreed, that it would add much more to the storyline if these two men had been lovers as teenagers, and if now years later Messala wants to start up the romance again but Judah Ben-Hur does not. Author Gore Vidal wrote much of the final script and managed to persuade the director that the conflict between Judah and Messala had to be more than two men that disagree over politics and hate each other for the next three hours.

MGM received over 40 scripts. This was a successful attempt to save MGM from bankruptcy. The visually astonishing MGM Camera 65 process and excellent cinematography by Robert Surtees made the chariot race one of the most memorable scenes in modern cinema. Filmed long before the advent of computer-generated effects, it took over three months alone to film, including 8000 extras on the largest film set ever built, some 18 acres.

Even by today's standards, the chariot race in Ben-Hur is considered to be one of the most spectacular action sequences ever filmed. This allowed for spectacular panoramic shots in addition to four-channel audio. The movie was filmed in a process known as "MGM Camera 65", a 70mm anamorphic print with an aspect ratio of 2.76:1, considered to be one of the widest prints ever made, having a width of almost three times its height. This version won a stunning 11 Academy Awards (a number matched only by two other movies in the history of Academy Awards - Titanic in 1997 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003).

It premiered at Loew's Theater in New York City on November 18, 1959. It was produced in grand style with over 300 sets scattered over 340 acres, and featured Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur and Stephen Boyd as Messala. Ben-Hur is a 1959 film directed by William Wyler and is, today, the best-known version of the film based on the 1880 book by Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - Karl Tunberg.

Best Sound - Franklin Milton. Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Miklós Rózsa. Winters. Dunning, and Ralph E.

Best Film Editing - John D. Lory (audible), and Robert MacDonald (visual). Arnold Gillespie (visual), Milo B. Best Effects, Special Effects - A.

Academy Award for Costume Design, Color - Elizabeth Haffenden. Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color - Robert Surtees. Horning, and Hugh Hunt. Carfagno, William A.

Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Color - Edward C. Academy Award for Directing - William Wyler. Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - Hugh Griffith. Academy Award for Best Actor - Charlton Heston.

Academy Award for Best Picture - Sam Zimbalist, producer.