Ben-Hur (1959)

• Review: *** (out of ****)
• Starring: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Sam Jaffe, Finlay Currie, Frank Thring, Terence Longdon, George Relph, Andr Morell
• Director: William Wyler
• Screenplay: Karl Tunberg (Novel by General Lew Wallace)
• Length: 212 min.
• MPAA Rating: Approved

The life of one man, who sacrifices himself for his familyparallels the story of Christ in William Wyler’s pseudo-biblical epic Ben-Hur.

Charlton Heston stars as Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jew withloyal servants and a warm and loving family. When his childhood friend Messala(Stephen Boyd) returns from Rome demanding Judah reveal those who would speak out against Rome, a contentiousrelationship develops. An accident that threatens the life of the new Romangovernor results in Judah’sexile as a prisoner who must then return home any way he can to find his familywho’s been imprisoned as well.

Ben-Hur’s subtitle A Tale of Christ has two meanings.The first is obvious. Several scenes from the life of Christ are shown in thefilm, including his birth and death. The second is a little more subtle and isclearly in the parallelism between the life of Judah Ben-Hur and the life ofChrist.

While standing atop their roof watching the arrival of thenew governor, Judah’sdaughter Tirzah (Cathy O’Donnell) accidentally dislodges ill footed roof tilesthat nearly kill the governor. Judah,sacrificing himself for his daughter’s actions, says that he is responsible. Inthis way, he shoulders the burdens of his family and suffers at the hands of Rome similarly to whatChrist went through in the Bible.

Ben-Hur is thetypical sword-and-sandal epic that follows one man’s journey towards his goals.It suffers likewise from an incredible series of events that seem as improbableas they are dramatic. Along the way he meets the typical myriad of people whoeither despise or respect him and though it is a difficult journey, it isnonetheless made easier by many of those who cross his path.

Although it is as formulaic as any other biblical epic, Ben-Hur carries a great deal ofemotional weight in its closing scenes. That impact is due in part to themagnificent score by Miklos Rozsa. The emotive qualities of his orchestralscore are delightful. It is the film’s only superlative element. The rest ofthe film, under the heavy hand of Wyler, moves as predictably as any suchmovie.

Heston gives the same turgid performance he’s given in filmslike The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Show on Earth. There islittle doubt that he remains one of history’s most overrated actors, despitehis immense popularity. His win for Best Actor at the Academy Awards was partof the film’s huge sweep that should have left him along the screenplay by KarlTunberg: Oscar-less.

Something about playing a villain in this kind of filmbrings out the worst in most actors. Boyd lives up to those expectationsplaying Messala. His perf is as ludicrous as anything Jeremy Irons did afterhis Oscar win for Reversal of Fortune.

Ben-Hur willcertainly appeal to anyone who considers films like The Ten Commandments and ThePassion of the Christ classics. Those who find that kind of film pedanticwill no doubt be periodically irritated by the film. However, Ben-Hur has more good moments than badones and is ultimately mildly enjoyable.

-Wesley Lovell (November 13, 2006)