Ben Hur(1926)
Directed by: Fred Nilbo
Starring: Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy, Betty Bronson, Claire McDowell
First let me say, I was dragged kicking and screaming to this movie. The idea of sitting 2 1/2 hours watching a silent movie! Silent!
Well, I was wrong. This movie was a marvel to me. Released in 1926, it had a "Titanic" budget of almost $4 million. It was filmed in Italy and the US.
Novarro is solid as Ben Hur, while Bushman is slightly over the top as Messala. The story goes that Ben Hur and Messala were childhood friends. Now that they are grown, Messala is more into being a Roman, and that spells bad news for Ben Hur, a Jew. Messala is embarrassed over their early friendship and takes advantage of an accident, where a tile is knocked loose from a balcony and hits a Roman dignitary, to imprison Ben Hur's mother and sister, and send Ben Hur to a slave ship.
Ben Hur impresses the Roman Officer on the slave ship and is released from his chains before a pirate attack. The Naval battle is phenomenal. Filmed off the coast of Italy, I read that they put Communists on one boat and Fascists on the other, so as to make the fighting look more real. Ben Hur rescues the Roman Admiral and is adopted by him when they are picked up by another Roman vessel.
Ben Hur becomes a champion chariot racer, but he still looks for his imprisoned mother and sister. He eventually meets the old family slave who has been guarding the family fortune for years. He uses his newfound wealth to challenge Messala to a race, as a way to get revenge. The Chariot Race scenes are a marvel to see. Easily as good as the scenes in the remake 34 years later.
The life of Christ is interspersed throught the film and Ben Hur becomes a believer and raises an army for the Christ only to have it stayed by Jesus' wish. They used an interesting technique of never showing Jesus' face. At times its a bit disconcerting, but overall, I thought it a nice touch.
The 2-color Technicolor bits were very impressive, and beautifully filmed. The movie was accompanied by a small orchestra conducted by Gillian Anderson(not the X-Files chick). All in all, I am now a silent movie fan!
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