1925 epic
Before my generation's "Ben Hur" there was my grandmother's "Ben Hur: a Tale of the Christ," a 1925 silent film directed by Fred Niblo and starring Ramon Novarro as Judah, Ben Hur, Francis X. Bushman (a favorite of my grandmother's) as Messala, and May McAvoy as Esther. The extras became more famous than many of the leads: Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Douglas Fairbanks, Marion Davies, Clarence Brown, Sidney Franklin, and others.
"Ben Hur" is famous for being the "Cleopatra" of its day - an expensive mess that MGM finally got control of by bringing everyone home from Italy and filming in Hollywood.
Putting aside the expense and the loss of both human and animal life, it's a spectacular film, all the more sensational for having been done in 1925. The emphasis here is on the spectacle and not the characters, making the 1959 version more superior in that regard.
There is no in-depth look at the friendship between Messala and Ben-Hur in the earlier film; it's hard to believe, from Bushman's portrayal, that the two were ever friends (also the actors were 16 years apart in age). What the earlier film has that the 1959 lacks is the religious aspect - Mary and Joseph seeking shelter, the birth of the Christ, and the three Wise Men. The religious scenes were filmed in two-strip Technicolor. Most of the film is black and white, with a few sections sepia-toned.
Ramon Novarro, who would come to such a sad end, was 26 years old at the time of the film. He makes a passionate Ben-Hur, with Bushman (who worked until the day he died in 1966) a one-dimensional Messala. Of course, some of the acting seems amateurish by today's standards, and the heavy makeup on Novarro later in the film and on Bushman throughout is off-putting, but these things don't detract from the film.
As lepers, Ben-Hur's mother and sister looked like their skin glowed in the dark, a very interesting effect. Jesus is shown only as a lit hand in many scenes, and his face is revealed.
The chariot race is mind-boggling, as is the destruction near the end of the movie. Yet the best parts of the film for me were the simple, poignant scenes of Ben-Hur's mother and sister, all done beautifully.
In these days of CGI and so much available to film technicians, "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ" is a must-see for how much the early filmmakers were able to accomplish. Truly one of the great epics.
"Ben Hur" is famous for being the "Cleopatra" of its day - an expensive mess that MGM finally got control of by bringing everyone home from Italy and filming in Hollywood.
Putting aside the expense and the loss of both human and animal life, it's a spectacular film, all the more sensational for having been done in 1925. The emphasis here is on the spectacle and not the characters, making the 1959 version more superior in that regard.
There is no in-depth look at the friendship between Messala and Ben-Hur in the earlier film; it's hard to believe, from Bushman's portrayal, that the two were ever friends (also the actors were 16 years apart in age). What the earlier film has that the 1959 lacks is the religious aspect - Mary and Joseph seeking shelter, the birth of the Christ, and the three Wise Men. The religious scenes were filmed in two-strip Technicolor. Most of the film is black and white, with a few sections sepia-toned.
Ramon Novarro, who would come to such a sad end, was 26 years old at the time of the film. He makes a passionate Ben-Hur, with Bushman (who worked until the day he died in 1966) a one-dimensional Messala. Of course, some of the acting seems amateurish by today's standards, and the heavy makeup on Novarro later in the film and on Bushman throughout is off-putting, but these things don't detract from the film.
As lepers, Ben-Hur's mother and sister looked like their skin glowed in the dark, a very interesting effect. Jesus is shown only as a lit hand in many scenes, and his face is revealed.
The chariot race is mind-boggling, as is the destruction near the end of the movie. Yet the best parts of the film for me were the simple, poignant scenes of Ben-Hur's mother and sister, all done beautifully.
In these days of CGI and so much available to film technicians, "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ" is a must-see for how much the early filmmakers were able to accomplish. Truly one of the great epics.
- blanche-2
- 14 दिस॰ 2009