Ben-Hur (1925 film)

Ben-Hur is the second silent film, and first feature-length version, based on the novel Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace.

Related Topics:
Silent film - Ben-Hur - Lew Wallace

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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."

Related Topics:
Fred Niblo - 1925 - Ramon Novarro - Francis X. Bushman - May McAvoy

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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.

Related Topics:
Hollywood - Silent movie - Dollars

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The great chariot race scene (for which 60,960 m of film, and eventually edited down to 229 m ) is still regarded as a triumph of exciting film making and was much imitated, even so recently as the "pod race scene" in ' which was made almost 75 years later. Some of the scenes were in two-color Technicolor.

Related Topics:
Pod race - Technicolor

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The film was co-directed by Charles Brabin, Rex Ingram, 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.

Related Topics:
Charles Brabin - Rex Ingram - J.J. Cohn - Fred Niblo - MGM

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A 1931 reissue added music and sound effects. 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.

Related Topics:
1980s - Turner Entertainment - Czech

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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.

Related Topics:
Restoration - Stereo - Carl Davis - Thames Television

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

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