list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Ben_Hur_A_Tale_of_the_Christ/108268/default.aspx Title: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Year: 1925
Director: Fred Niblo
Plot: The advertising tag "four years in the making" is usually so much press-agent puffery. In the case of the 1926 silent version of Ben Hur, it was the unvarnished truth--and the filmmakers had the scars to prove it. The story behind the film is now part of Hollywood folklore: the cast and production crew changes (star George Walsh summarily dumped in favor of Roman Novarro, director Charles J. Brabin replaced by Fred Niblo, writer-supervisor June Mathis-who'd spearheaded the project in the first place-abruptly fired); the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the troublesome location shooting in Italy--money that was lost when most of the footage proved unusable; the extra expenditure of refilming in Hollywood; and the huge chunk of the film's profits eaten up by the 50% royalty deal set up with theatrical producers Klaw and Erlanger, who controlled the rights to General Lew Wallace's novel. The end result reflected the turbulent production conditions: Ben Hur is an extraordinarily uneven experience, with moments of cinematic brilliance and pulse-pounding thrills alternating with long stretches of stagey boredom. The film follows the original Wallace story to the letter: Judah Ben-Hur (Novarro), a wealthy Jew living under the reign of the Caesars, is betrayed by his best friend, ambitious Roman centurion Messala (Francis X. Bushman). Ben-Hur's family is sent to prison, while he himself is condemned to the galleys. During a violent sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of galleon commander Quintus Arrius (Frank Currier). The grateful commander adopts Ben-Hur as his son and bankrolls his desire to become a champion charioteer. Thirsting for revenge, Ben-Hur agrees to race against his old nemesis Messala. The latter is fatally injured during the race; with his dying breath, Messala reveals that Ben-Hur's family, previously reported dead, are actually alive--but living as lepers. The story is subtitled A Tale of the Christ because, at various junctures in his life, Ben-Hur has been touched by the hand of Jesus. Ben-Hur must totally embrace Christ's edict of love and forgiveness before he can be reunited with his family. As Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem, Ben-Hur's mother (Claire McDowell) and sister (Kathleen Key), having also embraced the Christian philosophy, are miraculously cured of their leprosy. Most of these plot elements, together with the romance between Ben-Hur and the lovely Esther (May McAvoy), reappeared in the 1959 remake of Ben-Hur--which, fortunately, did not include the ridiculous subplot involving the alluring Iras (Carmel Myers), who attempts to seduce Ben-Hur just before the big race. The film's highlights--the sea battle, the now-legendary chariot race--were produced on a far grander scale than in the 1959 version; unfortunately, both highlights took place in the first half of the picture, leaving the viewers with a rather dreary, drawn out denouement (the remake wisely placed the sea battle in part one, and the race in part two). The Technicolor Nativity sequences were condemned in 1926 as being in poor taste, but when seen today are beautifully handled and restful on the eye (oddly, no one complained about the nude female revellers during a later Techn
Number of Lists: 8
Number of blog posts: 1
SpoutRating: 1
]]>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:58:23 GMTBen-Hur: A Tale of the Christ1925Fred NibloThe advertising tag "four years in the making" is usually so much press-agent puffery. In the case of the 1926 silent version of <a href=/films/219088/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Ben Hur</a>, it was the unvarnished truth--and the filmmakers had the scars to prove it. The story behind the film is now part of Hollywood folklore: the cast and production crew changes (star <a href="/players/P____74446/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>George Walsh</a> summarily dumped in favor of Roman Novarro, director Charles J. Brabin replaced by <a href="/players/P___104423/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Fred Niblo</a>, writer-supervisor <a href="/players/P___185354/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>June Mathis</a>-who'd spearheaded the project in the first place-abruptly fired); the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the troublesome location shooting in Italy--money that was lost when most of the footage proved unusable; the extra expenditure of refilming in Hollywood; and the huge chunk of the film's profits eaten up by the 50% royalty deal set up with theatrical producers Klaw and Erlanger, who controlled the rights to General Lew Wallace's novel. The end result reflected the turbulent production conditions: <a href=/films/219088/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Ben Hur</a> is an extraordinarily uneven experience, with moments of cinematic brilliance and pulse-pounding thrills alternating with long stretches of stagey boredom. The film follows the original Wallace story to the letter: Judah Ben-Hur (Novarro), a wealthy Jew living under the reign of the Caesars, is betrayed by his best friend, ambitious Roman centurion Messala (Francis X. Bushman). Ben-Hur's family is sent to prison, while he himself is condemned to the galleys. During a violent sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of galleon commander Quintus Arrius (<a href="/players/P____16184/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Frank Currier</a>). The grateful commander adopts Ben-Hur as his son and bankrolls his desire to become a champion charioteer. Thirsting for revenge, Ben-Hur agrees to race against his old nemesis Messala. The latter is fatally injured during the race; with his dying breath, Messala reveals that Ben-Hur's family, previously reported dead, are actually alive--but living as lepers. The story is subtitled A Tale of the Christ because, at various junctures in his life, Ben-Hur has been touched by the hand of Jesus. Ben-Hur must totally embrace Christ's edict of love and forgiveness before he can be reunited with his family. As Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem, Ben-Hur's mother (<a href="/players/P____47315/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Claire McDowell</a>) and sister (<a href="/players/P____37986/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Kathleen Key</a>), having also embraced the Christian philosophy, are miraculously cured of their leprosy. Most of these plot elements, together with the romance between Ben-Hur and the lovely Esther (<a href="/players/P____46850/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>May McAvoy</a>), reappeared in the 1959 remake of <a href=/films/2784/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Ben-Hur</a>--which, fortunately, did not include the ridiculous subplot involving the alluring Iras (<a href="/players/P____51609/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Carmel Myers</a>), who attempts to seduce Ben-Hur just before the big race. The film's highlights--the sea battle, the now-legendary chariot race--were produced on a far grander scale than in the 1959 version; unfortunately, both highlights took place in the first half of the picture, leaving the viewers with a rather dreary, drawn out denouement (the remake wisely placed the sea battle in part one, and the race in part two). The Technicolor Nativity sequences were condemned in 1926 as being in poor taste, but when seen today are beautifully handled and restful on the eye (oddly, no one complained about the nude female revellers during a later Techn811http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/v6501861q5a.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Ben_Hur_A_Tale_of_the_Christ/108268/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/4/10/27190.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 4/10/2008 5:00:39 PM
Body: I couldn’t believe that news of another Ben-Hur adaptation would appear in the trades so soon after the death of Charlton Heston, but this story indeed appeared in Variety yesterday, detailing plans for a $30 million miniseries to be directed by Christian Duguay (The Art of War) and produced by David Wyler, whose father, William Wyler, directed the 1959 classic starring Heston. And as is common for modern versions of things, the miniseries will be targeted at a younger audience, few of whom are likely watching Turner Classic Movies for its regular showings of the the Oscar-winning 1959 version (hey, kids, it’s in color, at least), despite the existence of this very, very appealing trailer. Wyler intends to skew the lead role younger, placing Ben-Hur in his mid-20s. New version will also downplay the religious aspects of the source material. And yet the miniseries will also reportedly be “based more closely on the 1880 Lew Wallace novel than either the 1959 version or 1925 silent adaptation.” Let’s not forget the 1907 one, which I seem to remember not being that adequate a translation, or the animated film from 2003, which appropriately featured Heston doing the voice of the character he portrayed almost a half century earlier. It would seem after a cartoon version, we don’t need another attempt to target the youth. And after Heston reprised his role, it would seem we don’t need another attempt to pay tribute to his performance. But Wyler Jr. thinks we do, and Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere is quite unhappy with the notion: Problem #1 is that the present-tense Wyler told Variety’s Ali Jaafar and John Hopewell that “in my mind” the miniseries “is dedicated to my dad and [Charlton Heston]…we think it’s a great way to keep his memory alive.” Never, ever make a movie as a tribute to anyone or anything. Make it only for reasons that are tied to the present and future tense. Make it for your own reasons, because you have a vision or at least a concept that you’re burning to put onto a big screen. I completely agree, and I recall another person’s attempt to honor his ancestor with a modern remake. And Simon Wells’ The Time Machine was probably the worst film of 2002. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:00:39 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com4/10/2008 5:00:39 PMI couldn’t believe that news of another Ben-Hur adaptation would appear in the trades so soon after the death of Charlton Heston, but this story indeed appeared in Variety yesterday, detailing plans for a $30 million miniseries to be directed by Christian Duguay (The Art of War) and produced by David Wyler, whose father, William Wyler, directed the 1959 classic starring Heston. And as is common for modern versions of things, the miniseries will be targeted at a younger audience, few of whom are likely watching Turner Classic Movies for its regular showings of the the Oscar-winning 1959 version (hey, kids, it’s in color, at least), despite the existence of this very, very appealing trailer. Wyler intends to skew the lead role younger, placing Ben-Hur in his mid-20s. New version will also downplay the religious aspects of the source material. And yet the miniseries will also reportedly be “based more closely on the 1880 Lew Wallace novel than either the 1959 version or 1925 silent adaptation.” Let’s not forget the 1907 one, which I seem to remember not being that adequate a translation, or the animated film from 2003, which appropriately featured Heston doing the voice of the character he portrayed almost a half century earlier. It would seem after a cartoon version, we don’t need another attempt to target the youth. And after Heston reprised his role, it would seem we don’t need another attempt to pay tribute to his performance. But Wyler Jr. thinks we do, and Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere is quite unhappy with the notion: Problem #1 is that the present-tense Wyler told Variety’s Ali Jaafar and John Hopewell that “in my mind” the miniseries “is dedicated to my dad and [Charlton Heston]…we think it’s a great way to keep his memory alive.” Never, ever make a movie as a tribute to anyone or anything. Make it only for reasons that are tied to the present and future tense. Make it for your own reasons, because you have a vision or at least a concept that you’re burning to put onto a big screen. I completely agree, and I recall another person’s attempt to honor his ancestor with a modern remake. And Simon Wells’ The Time Machine was probably the worst film of 2002. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/friendship/MemberTagFilms.aspxfriendship
Number of films tagged: 6791

Number of people who tagged: 154

Number of times used: 980

]]>Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:42:20 GMT6791154980Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/revenge/MemberTagFilms.aspxrevenge
Number of films tagged: 5189

Number of people who tagged: 145

Number of times used: 489

]]>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:13:41 GMT5189145489Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/religion/MemberTagFilms.aspxreligion
Number of films tagged: 1123

Number of people who tagged: 67

Number of times used: 176

]]>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:31:00 GMT112367176Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/obsession/MemberTagFilms.aspxobsession
Number of films tagged: 1134

Number of people who tagged: 64

Number of times used: 136

]]>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:00:49 GMT113464136Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/betrayal/MemberTagFilms.aspxbetrayal
Number of films tagged: 1035

Number of people who tagged: 62

Number of times used: 154

]]>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:28:04 GMT103562154Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/ambition/MemberTagFilms.aspxambition
Number of films tagged: 429

Number of people who tagged: 22

Number of times used: 39

]]>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:18:42 GMT4292239Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/grief/MemberTagFilms.aspxgrief
Number of films tagged: 539

Number of people who tagged: 20

Number of times used: 32

]]>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:59 GMT5392032Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/slavery/MemberTagFilms.aspxslavery
Number of films tagged: 584

Number of people who tagged: 15

Number of times used: 23

]]>Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:27:19 GMT5841523Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/search/MemberTagFilms.aspxsearch
Number of films tagged: 2111

Number of people who tagged: 13

Number of times used: 40

]]>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 03:00:49 GMT21111340Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/againstallodds/MemberTagFilms.aspxagainstallodds
Number of films tagged: 969

Number of people who tagged: 4

Number of times used: 5

]]>Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:04:30 GMT96945Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/lifechanges/MemberTagFilms.aspxlifechanges
Number of films tagged: 324

Number of people who tagged: 1

Number of times used: 1

]]>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:02:48 GMT32411Tag