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The nine-minute chariot race has become one of cinema's most famous action sequences, and the score, composed and conducted by Miklós Rózsa, was at the time the longest ever composed for a film, and was highly influential on cinema for over 15 years.įollowing a $14.7 million marketing effort, Ben-Hur premiered at Loew's State Theatre in New York City on November 18, 1959. The sea battle was filmed using miniatures in a huge tank on the back lot at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Culver City, California. Over 200 camels and 2,500 horses were used in the shooting of the film, with some 10,000 extras. Surtees, executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made the decision to produce the film in a widescreen format. Pre-production began in Italy at Cinecittà around October 1957, and post-production took six months. Filming commenced on May 18, 1958, and wrapped on January 7, 1959, with shooting lasting for 12 to 14 hours a day and six days a week. Costume designer Elizabeth Haffenden oversaw a staff of 100 wardrobe fabricators to make the costumes, and a workshop employing 200 artists and workmen provided the hundreds of friezes and statues needed in the film. Behrman, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry.īen-Hur had the largest budget ($15.175 million), as well as the largest sets built, of any film produced at the time. The screenplay is credited to Karl Tunberg, but includes contributions from Maxwell Anderson, S. A remake of the 1925 silent film with a similar title, it was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. 212 minutes (excluding overture, intermission, and entr'acte) īen-Hur is a 1959 American religious epic film directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and starring Charlton Heston as the title character.