After recovering his freedom, Ben Hur becomes a Prince, and meets Sheikh Ilderim, the proud owner of a string of splendid white horses.

Did Charlton Heston actually drive the horses in Ben-Hur?

Yes, in close-up shots, that's really Charlton Heston (as Judah Ben-Hur) and Stephen Boyd (as his rival Messala) driving the chariots. They trained for months to learn how to drive the four-horse teams. In long shots, however, the chariots are driven by stuntmen.

Who turned down the role of Ben-Hur?

Several actors were offered the role of Judah Ben-Hur before it was accepted by Charlton Heston. Burt Lancaster stated he turned down the role because he found the script boring and belittling to Christianity. Paul Newman turned it down because he said he didn't have the legs to wear a tunic.

What breed of horses are in Ben-Hur?

Andalusian horses played Ben-Hur's Arabians, while the others in the chariot race were primarily Lipizzans.

Is Ben-Hur 1959 historically accurate?

Not very. While many details are correct, there is one glaring error: the Roman admiral Quintus Arrius would not have been granted a triumph after defeating the pirates.

Ben-Hur- Introducing his four white horses

Why wasn't Jesus' face shown in Ben-Hur?

As filming progressed, Heater was given more time in front of the camera and a few lines, but British law at the time forbid Jesus to speak or his face to be seen if he were a “secondary character.” So, Heater as Jesus appears only from behind, as when he gives water to Charlton Heston's enslaved Judah Ben-Hur.

Was the chariot race in Ben-Hur real?

The chariot race required 15,000 extras on a set constructed on 18 acres of backlot at Cinecitta Studios outside Rome. Tour buses visited the set every hour. Eighteen chariots were built, with half being used for practice. The race took five weeks to film.

How tall was Charlton Heston?

There was, from the start, something monumental, something reminiscent of Mount Rushmore, about Heston with his 6ft 3in height and chiselled features. He could be angry, threatening and cruel, but he couldn't be commonplace, diffident or funny.

Did Charlton Heston do his own stunts?

Here, Charlton Heston did all of his own stunts except the most dangerous which came in the films climactic chariot race. Legendary stunt co-ordinator Yakima Canutt was bought onboard to put the sequence together and created one of the most thrilling, and most talked about action sequences in movie history.

What is the most hot blooded horse?

The Polish aristocrat and orientalist Wenceslas Severin Rzewuski established a classification of horses by blood temperature in his notes from a trip to the Arabian Najd, from 1817 to 1819. He classifies the Arabian and the Thoroughbred among the breeds with the hottest blood.

Why did Ben-Hur flop?

However, the film failed to generate the same kind of excitement as the Heston epic. The filmmakers had some success attracting faith-based consumers, but couldn't grow the audience beyond the devout. Kids stayed away, critics lobbed bombs, and secular consumers took a hard pass.

How many Oscars did Ben-Hur win?

Ben-Hur. The 1959 movie was the first to achieve a record 11 wins at the Oscars.

Does Ben-Hur meet Jesus?

In the novel it is clear that hate had nothing to do with Ben-Hur's survival, contrary to Arrius' assertion. Instead, Wallace intended to show God's benevolence through the compassion of strangers—one of the strangers being Christ, who gives Ben-Hur water and hope on his march to become a Roman galley slave.

Where did they film Ben-Hur?

Ben-Hur was shot in Rome, Lazio, Italy. Filming also took place at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in California, USA. Rome, Italy. Photo by Julia Solonina on Unsplash.

Where did they film Ben-Hur's chariot race?

Then of course, there's the stupendous chariot race – shot by Second Unit Director Andrew Marton on an 18-acre section of the backlot at Cinecittà. The gigantic race-track, modelled on the Circus of Antioch (in present day Turkey), was filled with 40,000 tons of white sand, imported from Mediterranean beaches.

What is the largest film set ever built?

Selections include "Cleopatra", "Ben Hur", "Intolerance" and "The Matrix Reloaded". Based on their research, Hobbiton from "The Hobbit" is the biggest set ever built at approximately 523,000 square feet.

How did they film chariot race in Ben Hur?

The shooting of the chariot race scene took five weeks. In order to follow the horses closely, cameras were placed on top of Italian cars. The splendid horses seen in the movie were mostly Andalusian and Lipizzans, and were brought from Yugoslavia and Sicilia.

Why did Charlton Heston adopt a daughter?

He later commented that this was ultimately to his advantage as an actor because this gave him "the profile of an Eagle". After their son was born, they decided to adopt their next child so that they could be sure it would be a girl.

Who was Charlton Heston's stunt double?

The fact is — confirmed in Emilie Raymond's hero-worshippy 2006 book "From My Cold, Dead Hands: Charlton Heston and American Politics" — no stunt performers died during "Ben-Hur," and the only injury sustained was to Charlton Heston's stunt double Joe Canutt, who thwacked his chin on a chariot after he was thrown in ...

Did Charlton Heston have Alzheimer's disease?

Heston courageously announced to the public that he was suffering with symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease.

Was Charlton Heston's son in The Ten Commandments?

Here's a fun piece of movie trivia: in the 1956 biblical epic The Ten Commandments, the role of baby Moses was played by Fraser Heston, the son of Charlton Heston, who starred as the adult Moses. As Fraser tells it, director Cecil B. DeMille cast him before he was actually born.

How many Oscars did Charlton Heston win?

Charlton Heston kept his two Academy Awards — the best actor Oscar for the 1959 film “Ben-Hur” and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award he won in 1978 — in a side table in his study where he read every morning, his family told The Hollywood Reporter.

How many extras were used in Ben-Hur?

Over 200 camels and 2,500 horses were used in the shooting of the film, with some 10,000 extras.

Was Ben-Hur filmed in color?

Color system

Some parts of Ben Hur (USA 1925, Fred Niblo) were originally shot on Technicolor No. II and combined with tinted, toned and black-and-white scenes. Later copies were printed in two-color dye-transfer Technicolor No. III, three-strip Technicolor No.

What are some fun facts about Ben-Hur?

FUN FACTS ABOUT BEN HUR

1. It is the only Hollywood production to be included in the list of films approved by the Vatican in the category of religion. 2. During the filming, director William Wyler noticed that one of the extras was missing a hand.