Directed
by William Wyler, Ben-Hur is an epic tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge.
Judah
Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a rich Jewish Prince and merchant in Jerusalem at
the beginning of the 1st century and is reunited with his boyhood friend
Messala (Stephen Boyd) when he returns to Judea as commanding officer of the
Roman Legions.
It
is a happy reunion, at first, but their different political views separate
them.
During
the welcome parade a roof tile falls down from Judah's house and injures the
new Governor and Messala sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother
(Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) into prison, but Judah swears to
come back and take revenge on Messala.
He
is imprisoned on board the flag ship of Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins) and
after years chained to an oar, a great battle is fought and Judah finds himself
saving the life of his master, who in time adopts him as his own and takes him
back to Rome.
Having
won his freedom, he eventually returns to Judea to find his family, but finds
his home in ruins and he servant Simonides (Sam Jaffe) blinded, and his
daughter Esther (Haya Harareet) tells him his mother and sister are dead, but
later finds they are living in a Leper colony.
After
confronting Messala he decides the best way to exact revenge would be to
humiliate him at the Hippodrome racing the horses of Balthasar (Finlay
Currie) and Sheik Ilderim (Hugh Griffith) in the epic Chariot race.
The
whole tale of Ben-Hur is set during the time of Jesus Christ and his life is
threaded through the story so therefore it has a miraculous ending, which was
enough of a reason for Chairman Mao to ban the film in China.
It
won a record eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best
Director (William Wyler), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Charlton
Heston), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Hugh Griffith),
and Best Cinematography – Colour (Robert Surtees)
It’s
a truly great movie which everyone should watch if for no other reason than the
Chariot Race.
