Ben Hur (1925)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Ben Hur |
| Original title | Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1925 |
| length | 142 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Fred Niblo |
| script |
June Mathis Carey Wilson Beth Meredith |
| production |
Louis B. Mayer Samuel Goldwyn Irving Thalberg |
| music |
William Axt David Mendoza dubbing 1989: Carl Davis |
| camera |
René Guissart Karl Struss Percy Hilburn Clyde De Vinna |
| cut | Lloyd Nosler |
| occupation | |
| |
Ben Hur , a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Lewis Wallace , is an American monumental film by Fred Niblo from 1925 . When it was made, it was the most expensive film to date. Some scenes were shot with color film using the two-color Technicolor method. After three years of production, Ben Hur premiered on December 30, 1925 at the George M. Cohan Theater in New York. The film became the biggest box-office hit of 1925 and is now considered a classic of American silent films .
action
The film depicts the life of the fictional Jewish prince Judah Ben Hur, who lived in Jerusalem occupied by the Romans at the beginning of the 1st century AD as a contemporary of Jesus Christ . For years people expect their Savior.
When the new governor Valerius Gratus is expected in Jerusalem, Judah's family, like many others, fear for their wealth. Simonides, the manager of the family property, and his daughter Esther set out for Antioch to bring it to safety.
One day Judah Ben Hur meets his friend Messala again, a Roman officer who denies him in front of his Roman friends, but greets him warmly in private. Not only Judah, but also his mother Miriam and his sister Tirzah welcome him to their home. However, the friendship between the two men is clouded when Messala makes it clear that he regards the Romans as rulers over the Jewish people, which reaps incomprehension from Judah.
Shortly afterwards, the welcoming parade takes place in honor of the new governor Gratus. Ben Hur, Miriam and Tirzah watch from the roof of their house when a loose tile comes off the roof and meets Gratus. The Roman soldiers storm the house and arrest Judah, Tirzah and Miriam; the Hur family's pledges of innocence are not heard. Before Judah is sent to the galleys , he swears revenge.
While marching through the desert, the troop stops in a small village; the thirst of the soldiers and the other convicts is quenched, only Judah is denied the water. Only a carpenter from the village quenches Judah's thirst.
After three years of rowing service on Roman galleys, Judah made the acquaintance of Quintus Arrius, the new commander of the fleet. He is impressed by Judah's vengeance-driven will to survive. When a pirate attack threatens and the rowing slaves are chained, Judah is spared the shackle on Arrius' orders. The Roman fleet wins the battle; Judah saves Arrius from death. Out of gratitude, Arrius declares Judah his adoptive son.
But Judah is plagued by uncertainty about the fate of his mother Miriam and his sister Tirzah. When he learns of the existence of a man named Simonides in Antioch, he asks Arrius to be allowed to leave for Antioch. There Simonides informs him that Tirzah and Miriam must be dead because he could not find them even after years of searching. However, they are not dead, but vegetate, sick with leprosy, in the dungeon.
The Arab Sheikh Ilderim, who is known for breeding and training racehorses, implores Judah to steer his horses in the race that is to take place the next day. When Judah learns that Messala is also competing in the race, he immediately agrees. In the race, which is also pursued by Simonides and his daughter Esther, Judah finally emerges as the winner; Messala has an accident with his chariot and dies.
The victory over Messala cannot alleviate Judah's grief for his mother and sister. But he is hopeful when he hears that the promised Savior has grown into a man. He wants to assemble troops for him immediately. Esther meets Tirzah and Miriam in front of his house, who urge them not to tell Judah about their illness. But when Esther hears of Jesus' miracles, she wants to bring Miriam and Tirzah to Jesus, who, however, meanwhile condemned, is on the way to Golgotha. Mother and sister are cured of leprosy; Judah herself is converted to peace by Jesus.
backgrounds
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer secured the approval of the theater producers Abraham L. Erlanger , Charles B. Dillingham and Florenz Ziegfeld for the film production , all of whom are also named in the opening credits .
- During the sensational racing scene, numerous Hollywood greats were in the crowd as extras and made cameo appearances . These included Reginald Barker , John Barrymore , Lionel Barrymore , Clarence Brown , Joan Crawford , Marion Davies , Douglas Fairbanks senior , George Fitzmaurice , Sidney Franklin , John Gilbert , Dorothy Gish , Lillian Gish , Samuel Goldwyn , Sid Grauman , Rupert Julian , Henry King , Harold Lloyd , Colleen Moore, and Mary Pickford .
- The shooting took place near Rome and, according to those involved, was initially catastrophic. Rex Ingram , who was already noticed by directing the monumental epic The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse , was initially entrusted with directing by the MGM . After falling out with the producers, Charles Brabin took over before the film was finally finished, directed by Fred Niblo . Even George Walsh was replaced in the lead role of Ben Hur by Navarro, had as the shooting started already long.
- Many of the horses used were killed during the filming of the race.
- When the film version from 1959 appeared , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who also produced the remake, thought Niblo's silent film from 1925 was still competitive. Therefore an attempt was made to locate and destroy all available copies of the old strip.
Awards
In 1997 the film was entered into the National Film Registry .
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrongly locates "some of the first color sequences in film history" in the film:
"The original version, reconstructed and musically reworked by ZDF - with some of the first color sequences in film history - still stands up to the comparison with the 1959 remake."
More film versions
As early as 1907 , a 12-minute film adaptation of the material was made under the direction of Sidney Olcott . The material was remade in 1959 under the direction of William Wyler (who starred as assistant director in the 1925 film) with Charlton Heston in the lead role. There is also an animated version from 2003 (Director: Bill Kowalchuk ) and a TV adaptation from 2010 (Director: Steve Shill).
DVD release
- Ben Hur . Special Edition (4 DVD set). Warner Home Video 2005 (contains both the silent film from 1925 and the version from 1959)
literature
- Lewis Wallace : Ben-Hur. A story from the time of Christ (= dtv 20503). Edited, with an afterword and comments by Günter Jürgensmeier. (The translation of this edition was recreated by Günter Jürgensmeier on the basis of several contemporary translations). Complete edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-423-20503-2 (original title: Ben-Hur ).
- Kevin Brownlow : pioneers of film. From silent films to Hollywood. Stroemfeld, Basel et al. 1997, ISBN 3-87877-386-2 (Original edition: The Parade's Gone By… University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 1968, ISBN 0-520-03068-0 ).
- Marcus Junkelmann : Hollywood's Dream of Rome. "Gladiator" and the tradition of the monumental film (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 94). von Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-2905-9 .
- 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). Marie Leidorf, Rahden 2011, ISBN 978-3-89646-737-9 , pp. 217-238.
Web links
- Ben Hur in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kevin Brownlow: Pioneers of Film. From silent films to Hollywood. 1997.
- ↑ Marcus Junkelmann: Hollywood's Dream of Rome. 2004.
- ↑ Kevin Brownlow: The Parade's Gone By , London 1968, p. 411
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdhD1TGJxJk
- ↑ Ben Hur. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .