Production of Ben-Hur (1959 film)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) originally announced a remake of the 1925 silent film Ben-Hur in December 1952, ostensibly as a way to spend its Italian assets.Pryor, Thomas M. "Ben-Hur to Ride for Metro Again." The New York Times. December 8, 1952. Stewart Granger and Robert Taylor were reported to be in the running for the lead. Nine months later, MGM announced it would make the film in CinemaScope, with shooting beginning in 1954.Pryor, Thomas M. "Metro to Produce 18 Films in '53-'54." The New York Times. October 8, 1953. In November 1953, MGM announced it had assigned producer Sam Zimbalist to the picture and hired screenwriter Karl Tunberg to write it.Pryor, Thomas M. "Bank of America Wins Movie Suit." The New York Times. November 4, 1953. Zimbalist was chosen because he had produced MGM's Best Picture-nominated Christians-and-lions epic Quo Vadis in 1951. The studio then announced in July 1954 that production would start in March 1955 with 42 speaking parts and 97 sets."Kidd Will Repeat Dances for Movie." The New York Times. July 29, 1954. MGM said Sidney Franklin would direct, that the script by Tunberg was finished, that shooting would occur in Rome and in Spain, and that Marlon Brando was up for the lead.Pryor, Thomas M. "Hollywood Dossier: New Market Analysis Is Set Up." The New York Times. December 5, 1954. In September 1955, Zimbalist, who continued to claim that Tunberg's script was complete, announced that a $7 million, six-to-seven month production would begin in April 1956 in either Israel or Egypt in MGM's new 65mm widescreen process."Six Books Bought for Fox Films." The New York Times. September 10, 1955. MGM, however, suspended production in early 1956.Pryor, Thomas M. "Sidney Franklin Resigns at M-G-M." The New York Times. June 17, 1958.

By the late 1950s, court decisions forcing film studios to divest themselves of theater chainsUnited States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 US 131 (1948) and the competitive pressure of television had caused significant financial distress at MGM.Block and Wilson, p. 411. In a gamble to save the studio, and inspired by the success of Paramount Pictures' 1956 Biblical epic The Ten Commandments, studio head Joseph Vogel announced in 1957 that MGM would again move forward on a remake of Ben-Hur.Eagan, p. 558–559. Filming started in May 1958 and wrapped in January 1959, and post-production took six months. Although the budget for Ben-Hur was initially $7 million, it was reported to be $10 million by February 1958, reaching $15 million by the time shooting began—making it the costliest film ever produced up to that time. When adjusted for inflation, the budget of Ben Hur was approximately $ in constant dollars.

One notable change in the film involved the opening titles. Concerned that a roaring Leo the Lion (the MGM mascot) would create the wrong mood for the sensitive and sacred nativity scene, Wyler received permission to replace the traditional logo with one in which Leo the Lion is quiet.Schumach, Murray. "Metro Stills Leo for the First Time." The New York Times. November 26, 1959. It was the first time in MGM history that the lion logo was not seen roaring.

Pre-production Development Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ ran to about 550 pages. Sam Zimbalist hired a number of screenwriters to cut the story down and turn the novel into a script. According to Gore Vidal, more than 12 versions of the script had been written by various writers by the spring of 1958.Vidal, p. 73. Vidal himself had been asked to write a version of the script in 1957, refused, and been placed on suspension for his decision. Karl Tunberg was one of the last writers to work on the script. Zimbalist had initially chosen director Sidney Franklin to helm the picture,Eagan, p. 559. and Tunberg consulted with Franklin about the script.Cole, p. 379. Tunberg cut out everything in the book after the crucifixion of Jesus, omitted the sub-plot in which Ben-Hur fakes his death and raises a Jewish army to overthrow the Romans, and altered the manner in which the leperous women are healed. Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 482. The silent film version had introduced Esther early in the picture, rather than midway as in the novel, and Tunberg retained this feature in his script as well.Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 489. But Zimbalist was unhappy with Tunberg's script, and felt it was "pedestrian" and "unshootable".Kaplan, p. 440.

The writing effort changed direction when Franklin fell ill and was removed from the production. Zimbalist offered the project to William Wyler, who had been one of 30 assistant directors on the 1925 film,Freiman, p. 24. in early 1957."Wyler Weighs Offer." The New York Times. February 5, 1957. Wyler initially rejected it, considering the quality of the script to be "very primitive, elementary" and no better than hack work.Herman, p. 394. It lacked good characterization, the dramatic structure was poor, and the leads were uninteresting (just "villains and heroes"). Zimbalist showed Wyler some preliminary storyboards for the chariot race, and Wyler began to express an interest in the picture. Zimbalist told Wyler, "Forget the chariot race. That's just second-unit stuff",Herman, p. 395. stating that the real challenge would be to give the picture "body, depth, intimacy", which Wyler was renowned for. Zimbalist also told Wyler that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) would spend up to $10 million on the film, and Wyler, impressed with the large budget, agreed to review the script a second time. The more Wyler thought about the story, the more he became intrigued with its possibilities. However, according to a report in The New York Times, Wyler refused to take the job until he was sure he had a good leading man. MGM permitted Wyler to start casting, and in April 1957, mainstream media outlets reported that Wyler was giving screen tests to Italian leading men, such as Cesare Danova.Makiewicz, Don. "Tour Around the Lot." The New York Times. April 7, 1957.

By June 13, 1957, MGM was still declining to confirm that Wyler had been hired to direct.Pryor, Thomas M. "British Plan Film on 'Silent Enemy'." The New York Times. June 13, 1957. Yet, production was due to start, the studio said, in March 1958. In fact, despite conducting screen tests and engaging in other pre-production work for Ben-Hur, Wyler did not agree to direct the film until September 1957, and MGM did not announce his hiring until January 3, 1958.Pryor, Thomas M. "Debbie Reynolds Is Cast By M-G-M." The New York Times. January 4, 1958. Even though he still lacked a leading man, Wyler took the assignment for many reasons: He was promised a base salary of $350,000 as well as 8 percent of the gross box office (or 3 percent of the net profits, whichever was greater),Herman, p. 393. and he wanted to work in Rome again (where he had filmed Roman Holiday). His base salary was, at the time, the largest ever paid to a director for a single film. Professional competitive reasons also played a role in his decision to direct, and Wyler later admitted that he wished to "out DeMille" and make a "thinking man's" Biblical epic.Eldridge, p. 15. In later years, William Wyler would joke that it took a Jew to make a good film about Christ.

Writing Wyler, like Zimbalist, was also unhappy with the script. He felt Tunberg's draft was too much of a morality play overlaid with current Western political overtones, and that the dialogue was too modern-sounding.Madsen, p. 342. Zimbalist brought in playwright S. N. Behrman (who also wrote the script for Quo Vadis) and then playwright Maxwell Anderson to write drafts. Behrman spent about a month working on the script, but how much he contributed to the final version is unclear. Both a contemporary account in the British magazine Films and Filmmaking as well as Vidal biographer Fred Kaplan claim that Anderson was ill and unable to work on the script. The New York Times however, reported in June 1957 that Anderson was at work on the script. Vidal said that, by spring 1958, the script largely reflected Anderson and Behrman's work and nearly all the dialogue was in Anderson's "elevated poetic style." Kaplan describes the script at this point as having only a "modest to minimal" understanding of what the ancient Roman world was like, dialogue which veered "between flat Americanisms and stilted formality", and an ill-defined relationship between Judah Ben-Hur and Messala.Kaplan, p. 441.

Vidal biographer Fred Kaplan states that British poet and playwright Christopher Fry was hired simultaneously with Vidal, although most sources (including Vidal himself) state that Vidal followed Anderson, and that Fry did not come aboard until Vidal was close to leaving the picture. Vidal said that pre-production on the film was already underway in Italy when he flew to Rome in early March 1958 to meet with Wyler. Vidal claimed that Wyler had not read the script, and that when he did so (at Vidal's urging) on his flight from the U.S. to Italy, he was upset with the modernist dialogue. Vidal agreed to work on the script for three months so that he would come off suspension and fulfill his contract with MGM, although Zimbalist pushed him to stay throughout the entire production.Kaplan, p. 442. Vidal was researching a book on the 4th century Roman emperor Julian, and knew a great deal about ancient Rome. Wyler, however, knew almost nothing about the period, and spent most of March having nearly every Hollywood film about ancient Rome flown to him in Italy—where he spent hours screening them.

Vidal's working style was to finish a scene and review it with Zimbalist. Once Vidal and Zimbalist had come to agreement, the scene would be passed to Wyler. Vidal said he kept the structure of the Tunberg/Behrman/Anderson script, but rewrote nearly all the dialogue.Kaplan, p. 445. Vidal admitted to William Morris in March 1959 that Fry rewrote as much as a third of the dialogue which Vidal had added to the first half of the script. Vidal made one structural change that was not revised, however. The Tunberg script had Ben-Hur and Messala reuniting and falling out in a single scene. Vidal broke the scene in two, so that the men first reunite at the Castle Antonia and then later argue and end their friendship at Ben-Hur's home. Vidal also added small character touches to the script, such as Ben-Hur's purchase of a brooch for Tirzah and a horse for Messala. Vidal claimed that he worked on the first half of the script (everything up to the chariot race), and scripted 10 versions of the scene where Ben-Hur confronts Messala and begs for his family's freedom.Herman, p. 400.Giddins, p. 247.