Ben Hur (1907)
Movie | |
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Original title | Ben Hur |
Country of production | United States |
original language | English |
Publishing year | 1907 |
length | 12 minutes |
Rod | |
Director | Sidney Olcott |
script | Gene Gauntier |
occupation | |
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Ben Hur is a film by Sidney Olcott from the year 1907 . It is the first film adaptation of the novel of the same name . The original was based on the novel-based play by W. Young from 1899. In 1911, the filmmakers lost a copyright lawsuit against them that became a precedent for US copyright law .
action
The Jew Ben Hur lives in the early 1st century AD. He clashes with his former friend Messala, a Roman captain.
The plot is condensed and short. The focus of the film is the chariot race filmed with local firefighters on a New Jersey beach.
Remarks
The 1899 stage version of Lew Wallace's novel by W. Young served as a template for the film. He leans closely to the piece and, as was common in the early days of film production, the original was copied without the author's permission. This let the film producers ( Kalem Studios ), the Motion Picture Patents Company and the screenwriter Gauntier sue for copyright infringement. In 1911, the United States Supreme Court ultimately ruled against the filmmakers, applying copyright principles to films for the first time . This also indirectly created the basis for the profession of professional screenwriter.
Remakes
Successful remakes of the material were made in 1925 under the direction of Fred Niblo and in 1959 under the direction of William Wyler (who was already an assistant director in the 1925 version). There is also an animated version from 2003 directed by Bill Kowalchuk and a TV adaptation from 2010 . The latest adaptation was released in 2016, directed by Timur Nuruachitowitsch Bekmambetov .
literature
- Krešimir Matijević : Not just a chariot race! On the reception of Roman history in the "Ben-Hur" film adaptations and the novel by Lew Wallace. In: Rainer Wiegels (ed.): Winding paths. Modern paths to antiquity (= Osnabrück research on antiquity and the reception of antiquity. Vol. 16). Verlag Marie Leidorf , Rahden 2011, ISBN 978-3-89646-737-9 , pp. 217-238.
Web links
- Ben Hur in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Ben Hur in the online film database
- Ben Hur on YouTube
- Ben Hur at Peplumania.com