This one is another of the many biblical epics that came out in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the same class as The Ten Commandments. Unlike that film, however, Ben-Hur took a different approach to the Bible, telling the story of a man who was a contemporary of Jesus Christ, and is only tangentially connected to him and his followers. With The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Story Ever Told, Ben-Hur was incredibly innovative in using the New Testament as a backdrop of a new, original story. The film was made on an unprecedented scale just in terms of sheer numbers -- a separate casting office was set up in Rome to put together a veritable army of extras numbering almost 50,000. All told, there were 365 speaking roles, with 45 being large enough to be considered principals. So to say that this film was massive in every sense of the word is a bit of an understatement. Arguably the most famous part of the film is the chariot race sequence, which in terms of significance to film history is right up there with Eisenstein's Odessa sequence from Battleship Potemkin, and was later used as inspiration for the pod racing scene in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Watch it for that scene, if nothing else.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
