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Home > Still Photographs > BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST (1925) - Vintage Original U.S. 8x10 Still Photograph #06
BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST (1925) - Vintage Original U.S. 8x10 Still Photograph #06
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Item Number: S-BENHUR-06
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Vintage original 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm.) U.S. single-weight gelatin silver glossy still photograph (NN: 200-31), fine condition.
The image depicts an exterior shot of Judah Ben-Hur (Ramon Novarro) holding the hand of two friends while Esther (May McAvoy) and her father, Simonides (Nigel De Brulier) watch. Novarro is wearing the costume from the film's most celebrated sequence, the chariot race, and this scene occurs just before that sequence. The detail in the actors' costumes can clearly be seen and appreciated in this particular photograph. This vintage original still photograph is in fine condition with light signs of wear on the upper outer white border and at the upper left corner. There is a tiny pinpoint indentation at the base of Novarro's tunic above his right thigh.
The original silent version of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is considered one of the true epics of silent cinema and also featured several sequences in two-color Technicolor. Costing between $4,000,000 and $6,000,000, the film was the most expensive silent film ever made. Ben-Hur was a big success as a novel and also as a stage play. In 1922, two years after the play's last tour, the Goldwyn company purchased the film rights to Ben-Hur. Shooting began in Italy in 1923, starting two years of difficulties, accidents, and eventually a move back to Hollywood. Additional recastings (including Ramon Novarro as Ben-Hur) and a change of director caused the production's budget to skyrocket. The studio's publicity department was shameless, advertising the film with lines like: "The Picture Every Christian Ought to See!" Although audiences flocked to Ben-Hur after its premiere in 1925 and the picture grossed $9,000,000, its huge expenses and the deal with Erlanger made it a loser for MGM. MGM was unable to recoup its investment.
When filming the chariot scene, the drivers were careful and slow, which disappointed Meyer. To make it more exciting, he offered a prize of $100 to the winner, and the resulting heated competition led to the horrendous crash that remains in the movie. That and another fatal accident led to changes in rules of filming and film safety. A total of 200,000 ft. of film was shot for the chariot race scene, which was eventually edited down to 750 ft. This scene has been much imitated and was re-created virtually shot-for-shot in the 1959 remake. Some scenes in the film were in two-strip Technicolor. One of the assistant directors for this sequence was a very young William Wyler, who would later direct the 1959 remake.
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; 1925; dir: Fred Niblo; cast: Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy, Betty Bronson, Claire McDowell, Kathleen Kay, Carmel Myers, Nigel De Brulier, Mitchell Lewis, Leo White, Frank Currier, Charles Belcher, Dale Fuller, Winter Hall.
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Vintage original postcard featuring a beautiful portrait shot of Ramon Novarro as Judah Ben-Hur.
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Vintage original German postcard featuring a beautiful portrait shot of Ramon Novarro as Judah Ben-Hur.
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Features Ramon Novarro and Carmel Myers in the famous silent film epic directed by Fred Niblo.
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Features Ramon Novarro wearing the costume from the film's celebrated Chariot Race sequence.
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Features Ramon Novarro, May McAvoy and Nigel De Brulier in the famous silent film epic directed by Fred Niblo.
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