Ben Hur - Tale of the Christ (1926) (Silent)

Buy This Item Ben Hur - Tale of the Christ (1926) (Silent) by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $29.98  on 11-29-2008     Never mind the later Charlton Heston 1959 sound version. To me the silent version (1925/26) is considerably more powerful, more moving and clearly more original - a fact which did not escape those involved in the Heston version which steals from the original silent at every possible turn. It represents a classic of the great silent era that can hold its own with the also great 1959 remake! <br /> <br />I simply can't believe that this cinematic masterpiece, sumptuously photographed, faithful to Lew Wallace's novel, was made in 1925/26. My god, it's so stunning. The dialogues and action are more powerful than any actor's voice will ever be. The director Fred NIBLO and his junior directors Henry HATHAWAY and William WYLER (director of the 1959 remake) carved a marvellous film that is at times charming, so exciting and so moving. <br /> <br />This diamond-sharp print ("silent movie") - presented here with a live epic memorable and soaring stereo score performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1987 by Carl Davis) - remains a monument to Hollywood's glory days. Now, this mammoth spectacle has been lovingly and beautifully restored, with the original tinted and rich two-stripe Technicolor sequences (mostly depicting Jesus Christ) culled from the Czech Film Archive. <br /> <br />Unforgettable images abound (examples): <br /> <br />1.) the Christ Story <br />Though she appears only in the Nativity prologue, Betty Bronson (Mary, mother of Jesus) haunts the memory. It is remarkable that this actress so beautifully embodies the serenity and grace of the Blessed Virgin.! <br />The young and nice-looking Novarro makes Ben Hur's longing for family and his naked intensity of belief totally plausible. When this enslaved Ben Hur gazes in awe upon the Christ who has just dared to give him water (Carpenter) in the midst of scowling Roman captors, you truly believe his spiritual awakening. <br /> <br />2.) the Love Stories <br />For myself, the real attractions are the two female leads. <br />May McAvoy (Esther, the daughter of Simonides) is as beautiful as Lillian Gish (Orphans in the Storm, USA 1921). May McAvoy is dainty, tender, sensitive and compassionate, graceful, trustful and worthy! Enjoy the wonderful love scenes between the "Princess of the heart" and Ben Hur ! <br />The "evil" Carmel Myers plays the unbelievable glamorous Iras the Egyptian. She shows us a sexual quality not seen in the Heston version (1959). Look for the scene as she tries to seduce as "femme fatale" the noble Ben Hur : <br />"Flashing eyes and milk- white bodies! Beauty to be tamed! Does it not thrill you?" <br /> <br />3.) the Roman Slave Galleys <br />You can really feel the great suffering of the poor slaves, sit three in a row, desperate and hopeless : "Merciful Gods! I can bear no more! Give me the boon of death!". You see the wide opened and furious eyes of Ben Hur, who has now been three years at the oars (to him three centuries): "Pray not for death, you coward, while your enemies live! Pray for life! I live for revenge!" <br /> <br />4.) the Sea Battle <br />The torrid sea battle between Roman and pirate vessels filmed in Italy with full-sized ships, long ago passed into legend because of its realism: plunging swords, severed heads galore, snakes, chains, flaming timbers and last minute rescues <br />The sea battle ("Death to Arrius!") is very alive and terrible. One can definitely "grab" the fear the slaves are feeling during the combat. <br />There are no special effects. Everything you see is real! The boats actually caught on fire, the slaves who jump into the water! <br /> <br />5.) the Chariot Race <br />The Circus Maximus saw a marathon of 12 chariots and 48 horses, recorded by 52 cameramen. <br />The colossal chariot race sequence is intense, marvellous, exciting and epic - the climax of the film and a masterpiece! If you look into the eyes of Ben Hur and Messala, you can really feel the hatred that both men (Ben Hur and Messala) feel for each other: <br />"Scum of the galleys! I will grind you in the dust! I will ride you down, trample you into the sand!" (Messala) <br />There are no special effects! When Messala's chariot looses a wheel he is hit by three other drivers (death of Messala) which made quite an impressive stunt <br />Ramon Novarro as Ben Hur and Francis X. Bushman as Messala are a pleasure to watch. They are brilliant in their acting. Francis X. Bushman's performance belongs to the "old style" of silent film acting. Ramon Navarro gives the role of a lifetime. Navarro's performance - the honesty he brings to every emotion - is as modern as tomorrow. He gives us a youthful, handsome, innocent, vulnerable and heroic portrait of Judah Ben Hur. He sustains a long and gruelling role with grace, charm and considerable force. <br /> <br />6.) The Melodrama of the Mother (Princess of Hur) and the Sister (Tirzah) <br /> <br />Although the second half (after the chariot race) is slower, there is a very touching part when Ben Hur (Ramon Novarro) falls asleep outside his home, and his mother Princess of Hur (Claire McDowell) and his sister Tirzah (Kathleen Kay), now lepers, approach him. Claire McDowell plays the part of the mother very intimately and expressively. Watch out for the scene when, stricken with leprosy and unable to touch her son ("Unclean! Not a sound! He belongs to the living - we to the dead!"), she kisses the stone upon which her son sleeps. She shows her expansive emoting ("O Judah! My son! I have seen you for the last time on earth!"). Like Greta Garbo's scene in "Queen Christina" (1933) in which the "Divine" embraces the things in her bedroom because she thinks of her lover (John Gilbert). This stone-scene illustrates the silent film's power to leave the viewer moved by the immediacy of an art that, relying on music and mime alone, reaches across the decades to grab one's heart! <br /> <br />To me, Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ, is a must-see silent masterpiece! <br /> <br />Stefan-Felix Winkler (Torgau/Elbe, Germany), September 2005 <br /> Reader Reviews Ben-Hur is directed by Fred Niblo. The film stars Ramon Novarro and co-stars Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy, Betty Bronson, Claire McDowell, Kathleen Key, Carmel Myers, Nigel De Brulier, Mitchell Lewis, Leo White, Frank Currier, Charles Belcher, Dale Fuller, and Winter Hall. For the Thames Television restoration, Carl Davis provides the score. The film is presented in monochromatic tinted scenes, with the occasional color scene. Ben-Hur is the story of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince in an era when the Roman Empire rules the world with an iron fist. At the beginning of the film, he is reunited with an old friend, now a high-ranking official in the Empire. But it quickly becomes clear his loyalties lie with the state and not his old friend. Following an accident that disrupts the new local governor's parade, Judah is sentences to life as a galley slave, while the rest of his family is locked in a dungeon beneath the city. Serving in the galleys for years, his thoughts of revenge against his former friend are the only thing that gives Judah the strength to keep going. Elsewhere in the world, a baby has been born - believed to be the Messiah who will save the Jews from the persecution of the Romans. When I first decided to sit down and watch this film, I didn't go in with very high expectations. I was basically expecting a weaker version of the story whose better-known telling came in 1959. Boy, was I ever wrong. This is an INCREDIBLE film. And while plenty of fans of the 1959 version may argue with me here, I feel this version of the story is just as good. The cast and characters are all terrific, far better than what you'll see in a lot of silent films. For the day and age it was created, the film was very well-shot. The monochrome shooting style always fits the respective scene nicely, and the color scenes don't look half bad either. There aren't a whole lot of special effects here, but the few that there are do look good for this day and age. In addition, this earlier version of the story even includes scenes that weren't reshot at all in the 1959 version! In all ways the 1925 version of Ben-Hur is a cinematic triumph. As far as cast and characters for the film goes, everyone was well-chosen. Ramon Novarro makes a terrific Judah Ben-Hur, with a look of determination about him in every scene. He is, quite obviously, Niblo's primary focus in this film, and the actor and director do great things for the character. Novarro isn't quite Charlton Heston, but he still fills the role nicely. Supporting cast highlights include Francis X. Bushman as Messala, Ben-Hur's childhood friend turned bitter rival, Carmel Myers in a brief-but-memorable role as Messala's Egyptian love interest, Frank Currier as the commander on the ship Judas is sentenced to be a galley slave for, and Nigel De Brulier as the Hur family's trusted servant. All of the acting in this film is great - better than in a lot of silent films. I must also praise the film for its shooting style. Rather than go for a straight "black and white" color scheme, the crew decided on using tinted, monochromatic scenes. The tints always fit the respective scene perfectly - sepia tones on the streets of a crowded city at the beginning of the film, dark blue in the night scene in which the wise men cross the desert, and plenty of other scenes like this, all done with the right tone. The Technicolor scenes look great for their day and age. I was glad to see that the crew decided not to go overboard with Technicolor usage, but only use it in scenes where it was appropriate, including the Messiah's birth and a Roman victory parade. There are a number of very well-shot scenes in this film, all of which have stood the test of time. I actually preferred the chariot race scene in this film over the one in the better-known 1959 remake. With its monochrome tones, and a gritty to-the-point shooting style, it feels less glamorized than the one from 1959 - which is actually more appropriate considering people crashed their chariots and were killed constantly in the Circus. I won't go through and describe every classic scene - I don't want to ramble, and you should experience them for yourself anyway. Another highlight of this version of the film is that it uses scenes that weren't featured in any shape or form in the film's better-known 1959 incarnation. Perhaps the best example of this is a scene in which Iras, Messala's Egyptian love interest, goes undercover in Sheik Ilderim's tent, trying to find the identity of his new chariot driver. There are also some additional scenes at the beginning of the film, all of which only add to the mood of the Messiah's birth. The 1925 version of the film has never (to my knowledge) been sold separately on DVD, but it is available in the four-disc reissue of the 1959 film. The version featured in the DVD set is the Thames Television restoration, complete with Technicolor scenes intact, the Carl Davis score, and an uncensored presentation (some earlier releases of the film lacked the Technicolor scenes and edited out nudity on the Roman galley and in the victory parade that ensued.) This is easily the finest version of the film available today - and since buying the four-disc DVD set will also get you the better-known and equally-good 1959 masterpiece, what have you got to lose? As an interesting piece of trivia, William Wyler, who directed the 1959 version, served as an assistant director on the 1925 version. This version of Ben-Hur is an underrated masterpiece that has wrongly been cast into its better-known reincarnation's shadow for too long. Everything is done well in this early film masterpiece - acting, shooting style, classic scenes, the list goes on. In all ways, this is a triumph in the world of silent cinema. Thumbs way up!

Ben Hur - Tale of the Christ (1926) (Silent) Available from Amazon Price: $29.98 Updated on 11-29-2008.

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