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Judah Ben-Hur is a young Jewish nobleman from a prominent family who is reunited with his childhood friend Messala. Messala returns to Judea as a Roman tribune. There is a genuine friendship between the two men, yet the clash of their cultures drives a wedge between them. That wedge finally drives Messala

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Judah Ben-Hur is a young Jewish nobleman from a prominent family who is reunited with his childhood friend Messala. Messala returns to Judea as a Roman tribune. There is a genuine friendship between the two men, yet the clash of their cultures drives a wedge between them. That wedge finally drives Messala to banish Judah to the slave galleys and sends his mother and his sister to prison. From that point forward, Judah's life becomes a quest: a quest to survive and a quest for vengeance. Judah survives the galleys to become the adopted son of a Roman general, and his triumphant return to Judea permits him to challenge and subsequently confront Messala in a chariot race.

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Alternate Title: Ben-Hur (Motion picture : 1959); Ben-Hur, the making of an epic.; Ben-Hur, the epic that changed cinema.; Thames silents (Television program); Ben-Hur (Motion picture : 1925); Story of the making of Ben-Hur.

Additional Contributors: Relph, George; DeVinna, Clyde; Hilburn, Percy; Niblo, Fred; LeBlanc, Lee; Davis, Carl; Wilson, Carey; Benson, Scott; Nosler, Lloyd; Myers, Carmel; McDowell, Clare; Guissart, René; Belcher, Charles; De Brulier, Nigel; Hunt, Hugh; Currier, Frank; McAvoy, May; Dunning, John D.; Zimbalist, Sam; Mathis, June; Hall, Winter; Rózsa, Miklós; Fuller, Dale; Leva, Gary; Scott, Martha; Harareet, Haya; Kaiser, May Adair; Boyd, Stephen; Novarro, Ramon; Jackson, Horace; Thring, Frank; Jaffe, Sam; Milton, Franklin; Hawkins, Jack; Bushman, Francis X.; Struss, Karl; Wallace, Lew; Bronson, Betty; Plummer, Christopher; Key, Kathleen; Tunberg, Karl; Carfagno, Edward C.; Griffith, Hugh; Haffenden, Elizabeth; Surtees, Robert; Gillespie, Arnold; Wyler, William; White, Leo; Horning, William A.; O'Donnell, Cathy; Winters, Ralph E.; Lewis, Mitchell; Hoag, Robert R.; Currie, Finlay; Longdon, Terence; Heston, Charlton; Morell, André; Gibbons, Cedric

Publisher: Burbank, CA : - Warner Home Video

Pages: 365

Edition: Four-disc collector's ed

ISBN: 1419810790, 9781419810794

Language: English and French

Contents: Ben-Hur : a tale of the Christ / Metro Goldwyn Mayer ; screen play by Karl Tunberg ; produced by Sam Zimbalist ; directed by William Wyler (222 min., c1959)
Ben-Hur : a tale of the Christ / Thames Television and Turner Entertainment Co. present Thames silents ; Metro Goldwyn Mayer ; controlled by Loew's Incorporated ; produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in arrangement with Abraham L. Erlanger, Charles B. Dillingham and Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. ; directed by Fred Niblo ; adapted by June Mathis ; produced from the scenario of Carey Wilson (143 min., c1925)
Ben Hur : the epic that changed cinema / produced and directed by Gary Leva ; edited by Anne Erikson ; Leva FilmWorks, Inc. (58 min., c2005)
Ben-Hur : the making of an epic / narrated by Christopher Plummer ; produced and directed by Scott Benson ; written and co-produced by May Adair Kaiser ; edited by Allison Marks ; Turner Home Entertainement (58 min., c1993).

Awards & Distinctions:
National Film Registry selection, 2004 (1959 version). National Film Registry selection, 1997 (1925 version)
Academy Award, 1960: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actor (Heston); Best Supporting Actor (Griffith); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Effects, Special Effects; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture; Best Sound.

Credits: Music by Miklos Rozsa ; director of photography, Robert L. Surtees ; additional photography, Harold E. Wellman and Pietro Portalupi ; art directors, William A. Horning and Edward Carfagno ; set decorations, Hugh Hunt ; special photographic effects, A. Arnold Gillespie, Lee LeBlanc and Robert R. Hoag ; film editors, Ralph E. Winters, John D. Dunning ; recording supervisor, Franklin Milton ; costumes designed by Elizabeth Haffenden.

Performers:
Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Sam Jaffe, Finlay Currie, Frank Thring, Terence Longdon, George Relph, André Morell.
1925 version: Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy, Betty Bronson, Claire McDowell, Kathleen Key, Carmel Myers, Nigel de Brulier, Mitchell Lewis, Leo White, Frank Currier, Charles Belcher, Dale Fuller, Winter Hall.

Notes: DVD, dual-layer, region 1; Dolby digital 5.1 surround.
In English or dubbed French, with optional English, French or Spanish subtitles. Closed-captioned.
1925 version: Silent film with English intertitles and musical accompaniment.
Based on the novel: Ben-Hur, a tale of the Christ / by General Lew Wallace.
Special features: Disc 1 &2. Commentary by T. Gene Hatcher with Charlton Heston; Music-only track. Disc 4. "Ben-Hur : the epic that changed cinema" featurette; "Ben-Hur : the making of an epic" featurette; "Ben-Hur : a journey through pictures" featurette; Screen tests (Leslie Nielsen, Cesare Danova, Yale Wexler, George Baker, William Russell, Hay Harareet); Vintage newsreels (Costliest film makes screen history, The night Ben-Hur comes to Broadway, West Coast welcomes Ben-Hur, VIP opening: capital welcome for Ben-Hur, Japan's emperor goes to the movies, Oscar likes Ben-Hur); "Highlights from 4/4/1960 Academy Awards Ceremony"; Theatrical trailers. Booklet: "The story of the making of Ben Hur" reprinted promotional material about the 1959 film.

Statement of responsibility: Metro Goldwyn Mayer ; screen play by Karl Tunberg ; produced by Sam Zimbalist ; directed by William Wyler

Physical description: 4 videodiscs (365 min.) : sd., col. and b&w ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet ([32] p. : col. ill. ; 18 cm.)

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