judahs Triumph :: essays research papers

Judahs TriumphWilliam Wyler is the director of the 1959 award-winning version of Ben-Hur. The celluloid is an adaptation of General Lew Wallaces novel. Karl Tunberg is credited with the actual screenplay. Sam Zimbalist was the original producer of Ben-Hur, provided he died before the completion of filming. The two main characters ar Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd). Another important person involved in this film is Miklos Rozsa. He composed the award-winning musical score in a total of eight weeks.Ben-Hur was released in New York City on November 18, 1959, and in Los Angeles on November 24, 1959. It was re-released in the USA in 1969. This film has grossed $70 million in the United States alone. As for location, this film was shot in entirely in Italy. Ben-Hur is one of two films to win eleven Academy Awards, the other movie being Titanic. The awards include go around leading and supporting actors, best cinematography, best director, best music, best s ound, and more. This film has some interesting behind the scenes trivia, most of which is in connection to the stadium or the chariot racing. According to The Internet Movie Database the design of the stadium was a controversy. MGM asked an archaeologist what the stadium in Jerusalem had looked like. Roman, came the reply. A second archaeologist was asked. It was in a Phoenician style, he said. A third archaeologist was consulted, who said Stadium? I was not aware that Jerusalem had one MGM engineers eventually sit down down and carefully studied Ben-Hur (1926), and based their design on that. Another intriguing fact is during the chariot race Charlton Hestons stunt double was flipped out(p) of the chariot. The stunt man hung on to the reigns and climbed back into the chariot. That blooper was left in the film to add more action. Marketing for this film was almost as risky as the movie itself. Hundreds of toys were created, as well as Ben-his and Ben-hers bathroom towels. The Int ernet Movie Database also points out another big goof in editing. golf-club chariots start the chariot race. After the first crash, there appear still to be nine chariots in the race. After the third crash, six are shown, but as Ben Hur passes to catch up, clearly there are a total of seven in the race. After five have crashed, five are left. Messala is the sixth chariot to crash, but Ben Hur and three others finish the race.