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In 1959 the "relentlessly epic" Ben-Hur, starring a regal Charlton Heston, was the most expensive picture ever mounted. It was a huge gamble for MGM who shelled out $15m in a bold effort to save the studio from collapse. They were losing their audience to television, but this sword'n'sandals spectacular would remind them what film could do that TV couldn't. Of course the gamble paid off. It went on to gross $80m and bagged a record-breaking 11 Oscars.
The Workhouse Grind
Aside from a digital restoration of the film, this four-disc Collector's Edition reveals the secrets behind its longevity. Ridley Scott and George Lucas are among the speakers in a new documentary The Epic That Changed Cinema, talking in specific terms about the influence this "intimate epic" had on their own movies. Scott humbly admits that Gladiator did not match the "staggering scale" achieved by the late great director William Wyler, who in an archived interview, explains, "I wanted to see if I could make a Cecil B DeMille picture." Heston also shows a surprising humble streak as he recounts the evening Wyler came to his dressing room and asked him to "be better in the part". The star gives a wry smile and confesses, "I spent a lot of time with a glass of Scotch in my hand after that."
Snippets of behind-the-scenes footage from Cinecitta Studios in Italy are weaved together with a more in-depth look at cinematography as well as the various design elements (there were 300 sets!) and staging of the famous chariot race sequence. So groundbreaking was the scene that it gets an even more detailed focus in a second documentary The Making Of An Epic. Heston reveals that he spent five weeks learning to ride a chariot, but it was the stuntmen who took most of the falls. Inevitably those accidents wound up in the picture, but the most hair-raising moment for MGM execs was losing a clutch of super-expensive 65mm cameras when the horses veered off course and crashed into them!
Even so, Wyler was more concerned with the lack of a finished script. He was unhappy with Karl Tunberg's draft and hired Gore Vidal and Christopher Fry for re-writes although they weren't credited. Thankfully, Vidal is on hand to explain just who contributed what, like the homoerotic subtext he added to the relationship between Ben-Hur and Messala (Stephen Boyd). It was supposedly a turning point for Wyler's understanding of the story although he publicly denied it.
Beyond The Arena
Film historian T Gene Hatcher throws in plenty more behind-the-scenes titbits in the audio commentary. He gives a nuts-and-bolts explanation of the various visual effects and even reveals the content of a few deleted scenes. For example, the film was originally set to open with The Three Kings following the star of Bethlehem, which was shot in the Arizona desert. Heston bolsters his research with a scene-specific commentary and reveals that he also wrote additional scenes between Ben-Hur and Messala. Unfortunately Wyler never used any of the material and said it was "the phoniest thing" he'd ever had to deal with from an actor.
For some light relief check out the Screen Tests, featuring a flame-haired Leslie Nielsen auditioning for the part of Messala! There's also footage of Palestinian actress Haya Hareet who was cast as Ben-Hur's Hebrew love interest Esther. Six vintage newsreels follow the progress of the film as it's released across the world and a ten-minute spool shows cast and crew sweeping the board on Oscar night. A Journey Through Pictures encapsulates the whole production story with a textured blend of stills, location footage, design sketches and music. And finally, disc three presents the restored 1925 silent version of Ben-Hur with a score by composer Carl Davis. Altogether this generous Collector's Edition offers a compelling and awe-inspiring look at a Golden Age of filmmaking.
EXTRA FEATURES
