Ben-Hur - videos, teasers and stills from filming
All videos, teasers and footage from the filming of the film "Ben-Hur"
Ben-Hur (1959)
Timing:
3:32 (212 min)
7.883/10
3103
3103
8.065/10
24350
24350
8.1/10
269000
269000
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on the novel of the same name by American writer Lew Wallace.
- This film was intended to save MGM studio from bankruptcy. And it did – with a budget of $15 million, it grossed $70 million worldwide.
- Actors from eight countries were invited for the filming, with preference given to European aristocrats.
- 50,000 people (residents of several Italian villages) participated in the extras casting, with 15,000 of them alone in the chariot races.
- To support the extras, MGM built special pavilions where 5,000 extras could easily have lunch in 20 minutes.
- Italian women sent the filmmakers over 160 kilograms of hair for making wigs and false beards.
- For filming battle scenes, MGM wanted to use an exact replica of a Roman ship. The built boat lasted on the ocean surface for only a few minutes. The very first small wave capsized it. So, they had to move the 'ancient' vessel to a special reservoir and control it with ropes.
- To transform the brownish water reservoir into a real Mediterranean Sea, they had to call a chemist. He poured in some substance – the water turned azure. However, anyone who fell overboard during the battle couldn't wash off the residue for a long time.
- The filmmakers tried to understand what the Jerusalem stadium once looked like. The first archaeologist replied – like a Roman one, the second – like a Phoenician one, and the third was surprised that a stadium even existed in Jerusalem. They decided to make it the same as in the 1926 film 'Ben-Hur'.
- After filming, all the sets were destroyed.
- The film contains no complete stories taken from the Bible. It has two scenes that correspond to some facts outlined in the New Testament.
- Burt Lancaster turned down the lead role in the film.
- The film was not shown in the USSR due to its plot being tied to events from the New Testament and was first shown in Russian only in 1994 on the NTV television channel.
- For filming the battle scenes, MGM wanted to use an exact replica of a Roman ship. The built boat lasted only a few minutes on the ocean surface. The very first small wave capsized it. So, they had to move the "ancient" vessel to a special pool and control it with ropes.
- The filmmakers tried to understand what the Jerusalem stadium once looked like. The first archaeologist replied – like a Roman one, the second – like a Phoenician one, and the third was surprised that a stadium existed in Jerusalem at all. They decided to make it look the same as in the 1926 film "Ben-Hur".
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