Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

ma-cortes Nice silent rendition that still stands as the all-time silent classic , including marvelously staged battle ships and overwhelming chariot races . It packs impressive scenes that still look nice , in spite of age . Childhood friends , Judah Ben-Hur (Ramon Novarro) and Messala (Francis X Bushman) meet again one time grown-up . Now as experienced adults , this time Messala is a Roman officer , a tough conqueror against the Jews and Judah as a rich noble , though conquered , Israelite . When in Jerusalem takes place a Roman parade , spontaneously falling a brick that causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave , his ownership confiscated and his mother and sister Tirzah (Kathleen Key) imprisoned at an impregnable jail . But the brave Ben Hur goes on his determination to stay alive and saves the Roman general Quinto Arrio when they are attacked by a pirate galleon , and he , then , becomes his fostered son . Several years later Judah goes backs his homeland . Unable to locate his mummy and sister, and believing them dead , he can think of nothing else than vendetta against Messala . Meanwhile , Ben Hur falls for Esther (May McAvoy) , daughter of Simonides (Nigel Of Brulier) . The second movie of the acclaimed novel , being lavishly produced , stars Ramón Novarro and Francis X. Buxman as Messala . Novarro is good in the known role as wealthy Palestinan battling the Roman Empire . The chariot race required thousands of extras on sets constructed on lots of acres of backlot at Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios . The MGM production costs were massive millions of dollars , as a lot of chariots were built , with half being used for practice . The race took various weeks to film . The known chariot scene was shot at what is now the intersection of La Cienega and Venice Boulevards in Los Angeles . Although problems lingered on the production and at a cost of over 4.000.000 dollars . The initial Italian set was eventually torn down and a new one built in Culver City , California . Attractive images , majestic set design , glamorous photography in black and white , evocative as well as rousing musical score subsequently added by the great composer Carl Davis combine to cast a spellbinding movie . The motion picture was stunningly realized by director Fred Niblo helped by Second-unit director B. Reeves Eason and Cliff Lyons ; being a hit smash at the box office . In 1931 , a shortened version was released . Rating : 8 , extraordinary and awesome , it ranked as the most expensive movie of its time and took years to end ; it is one of the greatest films in the genre "Epic". Ben-Hur still stands as the all-time silent classic . Other retellings based on this vintage novel written by Lewis Wallace are the followings : The classic version ¨Ben-Hur¨ won a record 11 Ocars , directed by William Wyler with Charlton Heston , Stephen Boyd , Haya Harareet , Jack Hawkins , Sam Jaffe , Finlay Currie , Martha Scott , Cathy O'Donnell , in which stuntman Cliff Lyons worked a Stuntman/chariot driver in both versions : 1925 and 1959 ; cartoon version (2003) by Bill Kowalchuck with prologue by Charlton Heston and ¨Ben-Hur¨ TV series by Steven Shrill with Joseph Morgan , Stephen Campbell Moore , Kristen Krouk , Simon Andreu and Lucia Jimenez

kekseksa It is somewhat comical to see and hear people defending the 1959 version of this film (without difficulty) against the derisory 2016 film simply because the silent version is immeasurably better than either.The only reason that i can see for so many commentaries here to fail to see this is simply because of the absurd prejudice that remains in people's minds concerning silent films. Some fellow says that the film is too long for most people to endure "without dialog" and this would be a crass remark to take except that the really awful thing is that it is true although the logic of such a prejudice for yak-yak entirely eludes me. It is long but there are several silent films (and some of the best) that are longer. The magnificent 1924 Greed, the superb 1927 Napoléon?But, if you are one of those benighted souls who simply cannot believe that a silent film version of a film can be better than a sound version (even when made by a great director), please watch the 1926 and 1952 versions of What Price Glory? Walsh's 1926 version is superb; John Ford's version is gruesomely bad. Many other "silent" versions are better than their sound equivalents but this one is a glaring and incontrovertible example.To be fair, I do understand that modern audiences have difficulty in watching silent films because they tend to lack the capacity for concentration that is required. Don't just "endure" this film for two hours. Watch it two or three times (it is well worth the effort) and you will be surprised how much more you begin to notice and appreciate and also begin to understand that a failure to enjoy silent films to the full is not a fault in the films but a fault in the viewers who have lost the capacity to view a film as a film deserves to be viewed.In the case of the two Ben-Hurs that count (I will not try and defend the 1907 Olcott version), Wyler's 1959 film is a very shallow piece of work, completely typical of the fifties US epic, glossy, pompous, ahistorical and overly romantic. This 1926 version is quite different. The 1959 version is in truth remembered for nothing but the chariot-race (very largely copied from the 1926 film) but the 1926 film is a dark vision of colonial domination, racial prejudice and tyrannical power (just as fascist movements were taking root throughout Europe). None of this is there in the 1959 film, despite Wyler's being an expatriate German.Heston's portrayal of Hur is about as un-Jewish as one can imagine (rather as though Schwarzenegger, had he been a little younger, had been chosen to play the part in 2018).The strong religious them is not to all tastes (it is not very much to mine) but this is a faithful and intelligent reflection of the novel and extremely well done. Like it or leave it, this is what the novel wanted to say and something which the 1959 film totally fails to reflect satisfactorily. In fact the entire political subtext of the story, eminently clear in this version, is largely incomprehensible in the Wyler film.Ben-Hur is certainly also about spectacle. It had already been so for more than twenty years on the stage before ever this film was made. But there too it seems to me this films achieves more and better than the 1959 version. The spectacle in this film remains breath-taking and is far from restricted to the chariot-race or the magnificent sea-battle.As for the 2016 version, 90 years on, one draws a veil.........By the way, for those zombies who compile these cast-lists, there are no such people as Miss Remington and Miss Underwood (or at least there are or rather were thousands of them. Remington and Underwood were famous makes of typewriter and this is just a little joke that appears in the documentary film 1925 Studio Tour.

DKosty123 Believe it or not, this film was the second attempt to do the film but the first one to be authorized. The 1907 silent was done without Lew Wallaces heirs permission, which went to the Supreme Court & helped create todays copyright materials which has helped make Bill Gates a rich man.If you want to sit for almost 3 hours or take the trouble to read the original novel, you will find out that Judah Ben Hur is converted from Jew to Christian by his encounters with Christ. That change of Judah is ignored in 1959 which is William Wyler being influenced by the rewrite work of the script by Gore Vidal which loses this from Wallaces novel.This version has some major influence from being one of MGM's earlier releases as a corporation. It did not make money until it's re-release in 1931 with added sound effects because it was the most expensive film made in it's time.The Roman Galley sequence in this movie was shot in Italy. It features 6 very expensive rebuilt actual ships. When one starts on fire here, it is really on fire. This fire was an accident, but sure adds to the realism of the film as the extras are literally jumping from the ship to save their lives.The cast features everybody in Hollywood, literally. The great chariot race was filmed in California as the production unit in Italy wound up being fired & replaced by Irving Thalberg, MGM's boy genius who literally replaced everybody in order to finally finish the film.Nararro & Bushman are classic silent folks who do well in their role. I don't think the parade of topless women includes any of the most famous silent actresses of the 20's, but if your into silent actresses, you might want to check this sequence carefully.It is hard to imagine now this being done as a live Broadway show for more than 20 years, but it was. Broadway wasn't subject to censors in that era either. It would be interesting if there is any record of what a live performance of Ben Hur actually looked like. This film gets as close to one of those as is practical.

wes-connors Ramon Novarro (as Judah Ben-Hur) grows up in Judea, around the same time as Jesus Christ. A wealthy Jew, Mr. Novarro maintains his princely lifestyle, despite the Roman occupation of his land. After a number of years, Novarro encounters old friend Frances X. Bushman (as Messala), a Roman. Novarro soon discovers that politics does not, in this case, make strange bedfellows; as Mr. Bushman is the steadfast leader of the occupying Roman forces. Soon, political and religious upheavals threaten Novarro's earthly existence… Epic "state-of-the-art" perfection, from Fred Niblo and the new MGM company. Despite production setbacks (the film commenced in 1923), and several personnel changes, the silent "Ben-Hur" emerged, at last, triumphant. It's a worthy treatment of Lew Wallace's highly successful novel; and, importantly, it treats Christianity with a respectful reverence not present in other Biblical epics, which attempt to dramatize faith-based religious events.Novarro's characterization is extraordinary; at this point in his career, it's difficult to say where the line between instinctive subtly and wise direction is drawn. However he learned, Novarro's range is clearly evident, and career sustaining. And, happily, he looks like a young "Judah". The close-ups during his initial scenes with Bushman, and the color filmed re-emergence from slavery are outstanding. The film's use of black-and-white, tinted, and color film is perfect; it helps to set moods, without ever jarring.The character "Messala", played by veteran Bushman, is the story's villain. The drama is centered on the dissolution of a past friendship between Novarro's "Jew" and Bushman's "Roman". Bushman's relative age, and ghostly looking eyes, help make him look menacingly evil. Novarro's relative youth invites some questions about his past friendship with the older Bushman; Novarro's naivety suggest the characters may not have shared the same point of view, after all, regarding their relationship.The "leading ladies" are neither as good, nor as appropriately cast as, Haya Harareet in the 1959 re-make. This version does boast a swell parade of bare-breasted women (and bare male buttocks). Also standing out, among the fine supporting players, are Claire McDowell's "Mother Hur" and Mitchell Lewis' "Sheik Ilderim". The spectacular "sea battle" was not bested by the 1959 re-make, but the "chariot race" was either matched, or surpassed. The entire cast and crew had every reason to be proud of the completed "Ben-Hur." Both the 1925 and 1959 versions of "Ben-Hur" are essential viewing.Novarro and Bushman deservedly won special "Golden Globe" awards during the 1959 film season; almost certainly, these awards acknowledged their lead and supporting roles in the original version of that year's big award winner. ********** Ben-Hur (12/30/25) Fred Niblo ~ Ramon Novarro, Frances X. Bushman, May McAvoy, Claire McDowell