Apart From its Climax, This is a Great Piece of Film-making and Drama

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2005)

Civil War General Lew Wallace's unpretentious novel has had a history of being liked for many reasons other than for its questionable Roman history its and unpretentious religious themes. In fact, it is simply a very long story about why honor is important and why revenge is less desirable than is forgiveness. The religious aspect--miraculous intervention by a dying Christ toward the man who tries to offer him water, a man he had once saved--impacts only the second idea, which otherwise would be untenable. So, much of this nearly four-hour-long epic masterpiece of film-making is a rousing drama with elements of adventure, historical bigotries, a surprising love story, a powerfully-filmed chariot race, strong dialogue scenes, a beautiful sea-battle and much, much more. William Wyler was the mastermind who managed to keep this sprawling project together; The performances he elicited set a standard not yet equaled for the historical genre; note that, brilliantly, Brits play the Romans and classically-trained US performers the Jews. British Empire types play the other Middle Eastern races. The story of Ben-Hur need not be retold in any great detail. Messala, now a tribune of the Empire, and Judan Ben-Hur, a rich Jew, had been boyhood friends. When Messala returns as 2nd to the new governor, an accident with falling roof tiles causes the already estranged Messala, who has already tried to get Judah to betray opponents of Rome to him to further his career, to be enabled to send Judah to the galleys. Saving Quintus Arius his commander after a battle, Judah is adopted by the man in place of his lost son, becomes a champion of the chariot races at Rome, but returns home. He finds his mother and sister reported dead, his fortunes wrecked, and the woman he loves waiting for him. It's not enough for him. He declares war on Messala before he discovers his mother and sister have become lepers, defeating and killing Messala in a great chariot race; and then he finds the two restored by a miracle performed by a dying Jesus, who recognizes him as a man whom he once saved by offering him water when he was in a slave column in the desert. The real star of the film other than Wyler's impeccable direction and the spectacular recreations of Jerusalem and Rome are the actors. Splendid work by Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd as Messala, Hugh Griffith, Frank Thring, Jack Hawkins, Finlay Currie, Martha Scott and others are the norm in this film. And virtually every technical and creative aspect from the costumes to Miklos' Rozsa's magnificent music to the Karl Tunberg dialogue is a memorable and praiseworthy achievement. Among the finest things about "Ben-Gur" are seeing Christ only through Ben-Hur's eyes, the Yakima Canutt-directed chariot race, the galley sequences which updated Michael Curtiz' rowers in "The Sea Hawk", the party and farewell when Judan leaves Rome and the entire early portion set in Jerusalem. One may quarrel as many have done with the "messy death of messala" or the deus-ex- machina miracle that is used as the film's climax, to the detriment of secular justice as a human concern. Bwhat must not be forgotten is how great a movie this is, developed from a slender source. I suggest it is a film worth studying and seeing many times over.