Ben Hur (1907 film)

Ben Hur is a 15 minute long 1907 silent film, it was the first film version of Lew Wallace's novel Ben-Hur. However it was made without the permission of Wallace's estate, something not uncommon at the time when there was no copyright law to protect authors. Gene Gauthier wrote in her 1928 autobiography how the film industry infringed upon everything. As a result of the production of Ben Hur, Harper and Brothers and the author's estate brought suit against Kalem Studios, the Motion Picture Patents Company, and Gauntier for copyright infringement. The suit, which eventually settled the question of American copyright law for all time, took years to make its way through the court system but the United States Supreme Court finally ruled in favor of Harper's and Wallace and against the film company.

Related Topics:
1907 - Silent film - Lew Wallace - Ben-Hur - Copyright - Author - Harper and Brothers - Kalem Studios - Motion Picture Patents Company - Copyright infringement - United States Supreme Court

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The film was directed by Canadian director Sidney Olcott with a screenplay by Gene Gauntier. At fifteen minutes in running time only a small portion of the story was put on screen. The focus of the piece was upon the chariot race which was filmed on a beach in New Jersey with local firemen playing the charioteers and the horses that normally pulled the fire wagons pulling the chariots.

Related Topics:
Canadian - Director - Sidney Olcott - Gene Gauntier - Chariot race - New Jersey

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cast:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Herman Rottger as Ben Hur
• William S. Hart as Messala
 
Ben Hur (1907 film): See also ►