History Trivia / BenHur

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[[folder:''Ben-HurATaleOfTheChrist'' (1925)]]

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[[folder:''Ben-Hur'' (1959)]]

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[[folder:''Ben-Hur'' (2016)]]
* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget, $100 million (not counting marketing costs). Box office, $26,410,477 (domestic), $94,061,311 (worldwide). One of the final bombs in the 2016 Summer Bomb Buster, a period that saw at least 10 other high-budget films fail either critically or commercially (or both) at the box office, a truly dreadful time for Creator/{{Paramount}}.
* CreatorKiller: Chipped in joint by Paramount and [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]].
** This version of the film got caught up in a management feud at Paramount's parent company Viacom. The latter's CEO Philippe Dauman resigned in acrimony the day the movie opened.
** 2016 aka the year of flops, of which only a few made more that $100 million domestically and none reached $200 million domestically, ended the job of Paramount president Brad Grey; he received a vote of confidence from the Redstones, though, but after other flops that extended into early 2017, Grey resigned and died of cancer a few months later.
* FakeNationality: Practically everyone but Creator/AyeletZurer (Naomi) and Creator/SofiaBlackDElia (Tirzah), who are both Jewish and play Jews. Bonus point to Zurer for being Israeli and playing a Judean.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/GalGadot and Creator/PedroPascal were initially attached to the film.
** Creator/TomHiddleston and Creator/OliviaCooke were initially considered for the film.
[[/folder]]

* AcclaimedFlop: The film was very expensive due to the overbudget from its TroubledProduction plus the original contract clause that the screen-rights owning entity of Classical Cinematograph Corporation (Florenz Ziegfeld, Abraham Erlanger, and Charles Dillingham) receive 50% of the profits. Although the film received strong reception at the Box Office, it couldn't recoup its costs. Nevertheless, the film's prestige was a great boost for the newly-merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
* CreatorKiller: June Mathis, who for two years was the most powerful woman in Hollywood, lost her position and influence when MGM took her out of the making of the film.
* TroubledProduction:
** Lew Wallace's novel Ben-Hur:ATaleOfTheChrist (1880) was a major best-seller, and a successful stage show in the turn of the century. In 1920, Wallace's son Henry sold the rights to the business formation known as the Classical Cinematograph Corporation (made up of the play's producer Abraham Erlanger, Florenz Ziegfeld, and Charles Dillingham) which existed just for the purpose of holding the rights of the story and selling them. In 1922, the Goldwyn Pictures, via June Mathis, bought the rights with the clause that the corporation get 50% of the profits.
** In October 1923, Mathis assigned Charles Brabin as Director with George Walsh as Judah Ben-Hur, Francis X. Bushman as Messala, and Carmel Myers as Iras. The production moved to Italy in hopes for lesser cost in shooting the film. Unfortunately, Italy in the early-1920s was a chaotic hot spot of social and political unrest between Fascist and Communist groups, as well as economic troubles. For months, very little progress was done. Production was delayed by labor strikes (not to mention deliberate harrying to maintain employment) and conflict between Mathis and Brabin over control. In April 1924, Goldwyn merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Inc., forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg saw they had inherited this expensive problem and decided to salvage it for the sake of the new studio. Finding the shot footage by Brabin mediocre, MGM ordered replacements. By May 1924, Brabin, Mathis, and actor Walsh were out. Fred Niblo was made director and Roman Navarro was cast as Judah. The footage was scrapped, sets razed, and the production was started from scratch. Despite the changes, the problems in Italy still continued. Production suffered more delays in construction as well as hostilities between director Niblo and his cast. Francis X. Bushman at one point walked off the set after an argument with Niblo. By January 1925, with the majority of the filming not yet finished, MGM decided to take the production out of the dangerous Italian location and into the more-controlled environment of Culver City, California. The Circus Maximus made in Italy was abandoned and a new one built in the US. Filming resumed in February 1925, with more reshooting. The final version of the Chariot Race was shot in October, with 62 assistant cameramen (among them William Wyler) using 42 cameras scattered and hidden around the set, to an audience of 3,000 that also included stars well-known (Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks) and soon-to-be well-known (Clark Gable and Myrna Loy). Once the filming was completed, a staggering-for-its-time $4 million had been spent. This, plus the profit royalties for the Classical Cinematograph Corporation, made it difficult to recoup its costs once the film was released in December 1925. Nevertheless, strong reception by critics and audience alike ensured popularity and prestige to MGM.
** Accidents happened. The filming of the Sea Galley Battle proved disastrous when a staged fire went out of control, consuming the Galley and forcing the extras- unemployed Italians who lied about their nonexistent swimming abilities- jumped into the deep water. Fortunately, no lives were lost.
*** Ramon Navarro suffered the worst. A scene requiring a Roman soldier to pull his hair took numerous takes and loss of several strands. His skin was marked by a make-up job using collodian, a potentially toxic substance, to make it look parched in the Desert-death-march sequence. For the water sequences, clothed only in a loincloth, he suffered burns for jumping through the burning hole of a mast, and nearly froze alongside elderly actor Frank Currier in the castaway scene. While filming the Chariot Race in Italy, he made a wrong turn and got trampled by Francis X. Bushman's chariot, fortunately escaping unscathed.
** The reshot Chariot Race in the US suffered a major accident when one chariot uncontrollably careened to the middle of the road, with three chariots crashing into it (no drivers were badly injured, but several horses had to put down). This sequence was kept for the film, edited as Messala's crash scene. Assistant Cameraman Henry Hathaway can be spotted in the far background trying to warn away any oncoming charioteers of the collision.

* AbilityOverAppearance: When casting the roles, Creator/WilliamWyler heavily emphasized characterization as opposed to looks or acting history.
* ActingInTheDark: Director Creator/WilliamWyler and co-screenwriter Creator/GoreVidal told Creator/StephenBoyd, the actor portraying Messala, to play him as if he and Judah had been lovers as youths and that his vindictiveness is therefore motivated by a sexual and romantic rejection as much as a political one. They did not, however, tell Charlton Heston, who found out years later and was ''not'' pleased. This did add an interesting dynamic to the scenes between Judah and Messala, since Heston's uncomfortable reactions to some of Boyd's behavior came off as reluctance towards his former lover.
* AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Movies: #72
** AFIS100Years100Thrills: #49
** AFIS100YearsOfFilmScores: #21
** AFIS100Years100Cheers: #56
** AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition: #100
** AFIS10Top10:
*** Epic, #2
* AuthorExistenceFailure: While the film was in production, producer Sam Zimbalist suffered a fatal heart attack in November 1958. Wyler and Joseph Judson "J.J." Cohn consequently assumed Zimbalist's position at MGM's request.
* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/CharltonHeston was initially offered the role of Messala.
* DisabledCharacterDisabledActor: The galley slave escaping with a bloodied stump where his hand used to be in the [[EpicShipOnShipAction naval battle scene]]. Creator/WilliamWyler noticed the man had only one hand, had it splashed with fake blood, and reshot the scene with him.
* DoingItForTheArt:
** Before MGM began production of the film, they made sure that the 1925 version wouldn't be re-released.
** When Sam Zimbalist approached William Wyler to direct, he had him read the novel and the script.
* DyeingForYourArt: Wyler had Stephen Boyd wear brown contact lenses to differentiate with the blue-eyed Charlton Heston.
* EnforcedMethodActing:
** The stunt coordinator was the legendary veteran stuntman/director Yakima Canutt; his son Joe was one of the stunt charioteers standing in for Heston. Joe is the one you see driving -- and nearly flipped right out of the chariot -- as the horses jump some wreckage in their path. Glenn Randall[[note]]best known as [[Creator/RoyRogers Trigger's]] trainer[[/note]], who worked closely with all the horses, taught the four Lipizzaners of Ben-Hur's chariot to jump over the wreckage over a period of weeks, so they were okay doing it. But Joe's terrifying flip was unplanned, and Wyler [[ThrowItIn kept it in]], putting in a shot of Heston climbing back into place. Joe was unharmed.
** Creator/WilliamWyler and Creator/GoreVidal came up with the idea that Messala and Ben-Hur had genuine FoeYay to provide motivation for their rivalry. Wyler told Vidal (after confirming HaveYouToldAnyoneElse) to tell Stephen Boyd to deliberately dial up the HoYay between Mesalla and Ben Hur, while ensuring that Charlton Heston be kept in the dark. Years later, when Vidal revealed this, Heston repeatedly spoke out against it, even saying that Vidal had little involvement, which the writer promptly debunked.
* ExecutiveMeddling:
** Sam Zimbalist and Creator/WilliamWyler were dissatisfied with Karl Tunberg's script. So, Zimbalist hired S. N. Behrman and then playwright Maxwell Anderson to help rewrite the drafts.
** During the early stages of production, Zimbalist and MGM decided to make the film widescreen. Despite Wyler's initial objections, he and cinematographer Robert L. Surtees helped to overcome these issues.
** According to Creator/CharltonHeston, Christopher Fry was Wyler's first choice as screenwriter, but Zimbalist requested Wyler to hire Vidal to rewrite the script. Fry would eventually return to rewrite most of the film's dialogue.
* ExtremelyLengthyCreation: MGM began development of a film adaptation in 1952. However, it wasn't until 1957 that production would finally take place.
* FakeNationality: Practically everybody. The film featured non-Jewish Americans primarily playing the Jewish people and British actors playing the Romans. However, it's {{averted|Trope}} with Haya Harareet, who, like her character Esther, is Jewish and comes from Israel.
* FollowTheLeader: Joseph Vogel was inspired by Paramount's recent success story with ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' to the point where he would announce that MGM would produce the film to save the studio. Charlton Heston and Martha Scott were also recycled in similar roles as the leading man and his mother.
* NetworkToTheRescue: During the UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem, MGM president Joseph Vogel, inspired by the success of Paramount's ''Film/TheTenCommandments'', announced that MGM would produce the film in a desperate gamble to save his studio. It ultimately worked in Vogel's favor.
* TheOtherMarty: Marie Ney was originally cast as Miriam, only to be dismissed from the production two days later because she was unable to cry on cue. Martha Scott subsequently replaced her.
* PlayingAgainstType: Claude Heater was an opera singer, and therefore used to performing loudly in front of an audience. For his portrayal of Jesus, however, he is completely silent and his face is never seen.
* PlayingGertrude: Martha Scott, who portrayed Miriam, was 11 years older than Charlton Heston.
* PosthumousCredit: Despite his fatal heart attack, Sam Zimbalist was still given a credit as producer.
* RealLifeRelative:
** Cathy O'Donnell, the sister-in-law of Creator/WilliamWyler, played Tirzah. It would turn out to be her last film role before her death in 1970.
** Also, chariot race sequence director Yakima Canutt's son Joe was a stunt double for Ben-Hur.
** French hornist Arthur Maebe Jr. played on the film score along with his violinist father, Arthur Sr.
* ScullyBox: Stephen Boyd wore lifts in his shoes to make his height more on a par with Creator/CharltonHeston's.
* ThrowItIn:
** During the post-race celebration, the guy who picks up Messala's helmet and runs off with it did so spontaneously. The extras had been told to do whatever they wanted.
** William Wyler took a liking to the sound made by a piece of debris when Heston kicked it during the scene of Ben-Hur returning to his house after escaping and did several more takes trying to recapture it. When he told Heston what he wanted, Heston [[SureLetsGoWithThat wondered]] why he hadn't just asked him to kick the thing again.
* TroubledProduction: As with the 1925 film preceding it, the 1959 film had a lot of behind-the-scenes problems. Creator/{{MGM}} first developed the film in 1952, but it suspended production in 1956 after original director Sidney Franklin resigned; the UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem didn't help matters either. Then, in 1957, MGM president Joseph Vogel announced that the studio would finally begin production on the 1959 film [[NetworkToTheRescue in an effort to save it]]. That year, director Creator/WilliamWyler joined the project after producer Sam Zimbalist offered him to spend up to $10 million on the film and showed him the storyboards for the chariot race. While the initial budget was $7 million, it eventually increased to $15,000,000 by the summer of 1958, making it the largest budget of ''any'' film produced at the time. Wyler also had initial reservations with Zimbalist's decision to make the film widescreen. MGM planned to start filming in Libya on March 1, 1958, but the government canceled the production's film permit for religious reasons 11 days later. Even after principal photography began on May 15, 1958, numerous script rewrites were made and filming was often delayed. The intensity of the filming schedule was so great that a doctor was brought in to give a vitamin B complex injection to anyone who requested it. By November 1958, production was slowing down and [[AuthorExistenceFailure Sam Zimbalist died of a heart attack that month]]. To speed the process up, Wyler often kept principal actors on standby to shoot pick-up scenes if the first unit slowed down. During post-production, the film's editing was complicated by the 70mm footage being printed; since there was no editing equipment at the time, the footage was thus reduced to 35mm and then cut. Fortunately, Vogel's gambit to save MGM from going bankrupt worked when the film was released.
* UncreditedRole:
** Creator/SergioLeone was an uncredited second-unit director. In later years he claimed that he directed the chariot race scenes, but that is an apparently self-serving exaggeration (Leone had a reputation for stretching the truth).
** While William Wyler and J.J. Cohn replaced Sam Zimbalist as the film's producers, they weren't credited for their work.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Sidney Franklin was considered to direct it, but he fell ill and resigned in 1956. One year later, Sam Zimbalist hired Creator/WilliamWyler to direct the film.
** Creator/MarlonBrando, Creator/MontgomeryClift, Creator/TonyCurtis, Creator/KirkDouglas, Creator/RockHudson,[[note]] He turned it down due to his commitment to ''Literature/AFarewellToArms''[[/note]] Creator/BurtLancaster,[[note]]As an Atheist, he found the story offensive[[/note]] Creator/PaulNewman[[note]]He declined, saying that he didn't have the legs to wear a toga.[[/note]] and Creator/LeslieNielsen were all considered to play Ben-Hur before Creator/CharltonHeston was cast.
** Douglas was offered the role of Messala, but he didn't want to play a "second-rate baddie". Naturally, he wanted to play the lead, but that ship had sailed, so he made ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' instead. Nielsen and Creator/RobertRyan were also considered, and Wyler initially wanted Heston to play the role.
** Creator/AvaGardner and Creator/JeanSimmons were considered for Esther.
** The movie was originally going to be filmed in Libya, but the local government cancelled the film's permit over religious reasons about a week before filming began.
** Also, several countries such as France, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom were considered as possible locations for shooting the film.
** At one point, Sam Zimbalist considered William Walton to write the film's score, but eventually had Miklós Rózsa compose and conduct it instead.
** Wyler was so impressed with Creator/DavidLean's work on ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'' that he asked Lean to direct the famous chariot race sequence. Lean would have received full screen credit for the job--"Chariot Race directed by David Lean." He declined the offer, knowing that Wyler was a truly talented director and could certainly [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre pull it off himself]].
* WordOfGay: According to Creator/GoreVidal's interview in ''Film/TheCelluloidCloset'', Ben-Hur and Messala were former lovers and Messala betrayed Ben-Hur because their relationship ended. According to Vidal, he discussed this with Stephen Boyd (Messala) ahead of shooting, but this information was hidden from Creator/CharltonHeston because it was felt that he could not handle it.
* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: The script was still being written by the time filming began.

* FakeNationality: Practically everyone but Creator/AyeletZurer (Naomi) and Sofia Black-D'Elia (Tirzah), who are both Jewish and play Jews. Bonus point to Zurer for being Israeli and playing a Judean.

* TroubledProduction: The film had a lot of behind-the-scenes problems. Creator/{{MGM}} first developed the film in 1952, but it suspended production in 1956 after original director Sidney Franklin resigned; the UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem didn't help matters either. Then, in 1957, MGM president Joseph Vogel announced that the studio would finally begin production on the 1959 film [[NetworkToTheRescue in an effort to save it]]. That year, director Creator/WilliamWyler joined the project after producer Sam Zimbalist offered him to spend up to $10 million on the film and showed him the storyboards for the chariot race. While the initial budget was $7 million, it eventually increased to $15,000,000 by the summer of 1958, making it the largest budget of ''any'' film produced at the time. Wyler also had initial reservations with Zimbalist's decision to make the film widescreen. MGM planned to start filming in Libya on March 1, 1958, but the government canceled the production's film permit for religious reasons 11 days later. Even after principal photography began on May 15, 1958, numerous script rewrites were made and filming was often delayed. The intensity of the filming schedule was so great that a doctor was brought in to give a vitamin B complex injection to anyone who requested it. By November 1958, production was slowing down and [[AuthorExistenceFailure Sam Zimbalist died of a heart attack that month]]. To speed the process up, Wyler often kept principal actors on standby to shoot pick-up scenes if the first unit slowed down. During post-production, the film's editing was complicated by the 70mm footage being printed; since there was no editing equipment at the time, the footage was thus reduced to 35mm and then cut. Fortunately, Vogel's gambit to save MGM from going bankrupt worked when the film was released.

** Lew Wallace's novel Ben-Hur:ATaleOfTheChrist (1881) was a major best-seller, and a spectacular stage show in the turn of the century. In 1920, Wallace's son Henry sold the rights to the business formation known as the Classical Cinematograph Corporation (made up of the play's producer Abraham Erlanger, Florenz Ziegfeld, and Charles Dillingham) which existed just for the purpose of holding the rights of the story and selling them. In 1922, the Goldwyn Pictures, via June Mathis, bought the rights with the clause that the corporation get 50% of the profits.

** In October 1923, Mathis assigned Charles Brabin as Director with George Walsh as Judah Ben-Hur, Francis X. Bushman as Messala, and Carmel Myers as Iras. The production moved to Italy in hopes for lesser cost in shooting the film. Unfortunately, Italy in the early-1920s was a chaotic hot spot of social and political unrest between Fascist and Communist groups, plus economic troubles. For months, very little progress was done. Production was delayed by labor strikes (not to mention deliberate harrying to maintain employment) and conflict between Mathis and Brabin over control. In April 1924, Goldwyn merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Inc., forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg saw they had inherited this expensive problem and decided to salvage it for the sake of the new studio. Finding the shot footage by Brabin mediocre, MGM ordered replacements. By May 1924, Brabin, Mathis, and actor Walsh were out. Fred Niblo was made director and Roman Navarro was cast as Judah. The footage was scrapped, sets razed, and the production was started from scratch. Despite the changes, the problems in Italy still continued. Production still suffered delays and hostilities by director Niblo and his cast. Francis X. Bushman at one point walked off the set after an argument with Niblo. By January 1925, with the majority of the filming not yet finished, MGM decided to take the production out of the dangerous Italian location and into the more-controlled environment of Culver City, California. The Circus Maximus made in Italy was abandoned and a new one built in the US. Filming resumed in February 1925. The final version of the Chariot Race was shot in October, with 62 assistant cameramen (among them William Wyler) using 42 cameras scattered and hidden around the set, to an audience of 3,000 that also included stars well-known (Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks) and soon-to-be well-known (Clark Gable and Myrna Loy). Once the filming was completed, a staggering-for-its-time $4 million had been spent. This, plus the profit royalties for the Classical Cinematograph Corporation, made it difficult to recoup its costs once the film was released in December 1925. Nevertheless, strong reception by critics and audience alike ensured popularity and prestige to MGM.

*** Ramon Navarro suffered the worst. A scene requiring a Roman soldier to pull his hair took numerous takes and loss of several strands. His skin was marked by a make-up job using collodian, a potentially toxic substance to make it look parched in the Desert-death-march sequence. For the water sequences, clothed only in a loincloth, he suffered burns for jumping through the burning hole of a mast, and nearly froze alongside elderly actor Frank Currier in the castaway scene. While filming the Chariot Race in Italy, he made a wrong turn and got trampled by Francis X. Bushman's chariot, fortunately escaping unscathed.

** In October 1923, Mathis assigned Charles Brabin as Director with George Walsh as Judah Ben-Hur, Francis X. Bushman as Messala, and Carmel Myers as Iras. The production moved to Italy in hopes for lesser cost in shooting the film. Unfortunately, Italy in the early-1920s was a chaotic hot spot of social and political unrest between Fascist and Communist groups, plus economic troubles. For months, very little progress was done. Production was delayed by labor strikes (not to mention deliberate harrying to maintain employment) and conflict between Mathis and Brabin over control. In April 1924, Goldwyn merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Inc., forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg inherited this expensive problem and decided to salvage it for the sake of the new studio. Finding the shot footage by Brabin mediocre, MGM ordered replacements. By May 1924, Brabin, Mathis, and actor Walsh were out. Fred Niblo was made director and Roman Navarro was cast as Judah. The footage was scrapped, sets razed, and the production was started from scratch. Despite the changes, the problems in Italy still continued. Production still suffered delays and hostilities by director Niblo and his cast. Francis X. Bushman at one point walked off the set after an argument with Niblo. By January 1925, with the majority of the story not yet filmed, MGM decided to take the production out of the dangerous Italian location and into the more-controlled environment of Culver City, California. The Circus Maximus made in Italy was abandoned and a new one built in the US. Filming resumed in February 1925. The Chariot Race was reshot in October, with 42 cameras scattered and hidden around the set, to an audience that included stars well-known (Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks) and soon-to-be well-known (Clark Gable and Myrna Loy). Once the film was finished, a staggering-for-its-time $4 million had been spent. This, plus the profit royalties for the Classical Cinematograph Corporation, made it difficult to recoup its costs once the film was released in December 1925. Nevertheless, strong reception by critics and audience alike gave the new MGM prestige.

*** Ramon Navarro suffered the worst. A scene requiring a Roman soldier to pull his hair took numerous takes and loss of several strands. His skin was marked by a make-up job using potentially toxic substances to make it look parched in the Desert-death-march sequence. For the water sequences, clothed only in a loincloth, he suffered burns for jumping through the burning hole of a mast, and nearly froze alongside elderly actor Frank Currier in the castaway scene. While filming the Chariot Race in Italy, he made a wrong turn and got trampled by Francis X. Bushman's chariot, fortunately escaping unscathed.
** The reshot Chariot Race in the US suffered a major accident when two chariots collided, with three more chariots joining the crash as well. This sequence was kept for the film, edited as Messala's crash scene. Assistant Cameraman Henry Hathaway can be spotted in the far background trying to warn away any oncoming charioteers of the collision.

* CareerDerailment: June Mathis, who for two years was the most powerful woman in Hollywood, lost her position and influence when MGM took her out of the making of the film.

** In October 1923, Mathis assigned Charles Brabin as Director with George Walsh as Judah Ben-Hur, Francis X. Bushman as Messala, and Carmel Myers as Iras. The production moved to Italy in hopes for lesser cost in shooting the film. Unfortunately, Italy in the early-1920s was a chaotic hot spot of social and political unrest between Fascist and Communist groups, plus economic troubles. For months, very little progress was done. Production was delayed by labor strikes (not to mention deliberate harrying to maintain employment) and conflict between Mathis and Brabin over control. In April 1924, Goldwyn merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Inc., forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg inherited this expensive problem and decided to salvage it for the sake of the new studio. Finding the shot footage by Brabin mediocre, MGM ordered replacements. By May 1924, Brabin, Mathis, and actor Walsh were out. Fred Niblo was made director and Roman Navarro was cast as Judah. The footage was scrapped, sets razed, and the production was started from scratch. Despite the changes, the problems in Italy still continued. Production still suffered delays and hostilities by director Niblo and his cast. Francis X. Bushman at one point walked off the set after an argument with Niblo. By January 1925, with the majority of the story not yet filmed, MGM decided to take the production out of the dangerous Italian location and into the more-controlled environment of Culver City, California. The Circus Maximus made in Italy was abandoned and a new one built in the US. Filming resumed in February 1925. The chariot race was reshot in October, with 42 cameras scattered and hidden around the set.

** In Late 1923, Mathis assigned Charles Brabin as Director with George Walsh as Judah Ben-Hur, Francis X. Bushman as Messala, and Carmel Myers as Iras. The production moved to Italy in hopes for lesser cost in shooting the film. Unfortunately, Italy in the early-1920s was a chaotic hot spot of social and political unrest between Fascist and Communist groups, plus economic troubles. For months, very little progress was done. Production was delayed by labor strikes (not to mention deliberate harrying to maintain employment) and conflict between Mathis and Brabin over control. In April 1924, Goldwyn merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Inc., forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg inherited this expensive problem and decided to salvage it for the sake of the new studio. Finding the shot footage by Brabin mediocre, MGM ordered replacements. By May 1924, Brabin, Mathis, and actor Walsh were out. Fred Niblo was made director and Roman Novarro was cast as Judah. The footage was scrapped, sets razed, and the production was started from scratch. Despite the changes, the problems in Italy still continued. Production still suffered delays and hostilities by director Niblo and his cast. Francis X. Bushman at one point walked off the set after an argument with Niblo.

*** Ramon Novarro suffered the worst. A scene requiring a Roman soldier to pull his hair took numerous takes and loss of several strands. His skin was marked by a make-up job using toxic substances to make it look parched in the 'desert-death-march' sequence. For the water sequences, wearing nothing but a loincloth, he suffered burns for jumping through the burning hole of a mast, and nearly froze alongside elderly actor Frank Currier in the castaway scene. While filming the Chariot Race in Italy, he made a wrong turn and got trampled by Francis X. Bushman's chariot, fortunately escaping unscathed.
** By December 1924, with the majority of the film still not yet filmed, MGM decided to take the production out of the dangerous Italian location to the more-controlled environment of Culver City, California. The Circus Maximus made in Italy was abandoned and a new one built in the US.

** In Late 1923, Mathis assigned Charles Brabin as Director with George Walsh as Judah Ben-Hur, Francis X. Bushman as Messala, and Carmel Myers as Iras. The production moved to Italy in hopes for lesser cost in shooting the film. Unfortunately, Italy in the early-1920s was a chaotic hot spot of social and political unrest between Fascist and Communist groups, plus economic troubles. For months, nothing was done. Production was delayed by labor strikes and conflict between Mathis and Brabin over control. In April 1924, Goldwyn merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Inc., forming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg inherited this expensive problem and decided to salvage it for the sake of the new studio. By May, Brabin, Mathis, and actor Walsh were replaced. Fred Niblo was made director and Roman Novarro was cast as Judah.

* AcclaimedFlop: The film was very expensive due to the overbudget from its TroubledProduction plus the original contract clause that screen-rights owner Abraham Erlanger receive 50% of the profits. Although the film received strong reception at the Box Office, it couldn't recoup its costs. Nevertheless, the film's prestige was a great boost for the newly-merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/GalGadot and Creator/PedroPascal were initially attached to the film.

** William Wyler took a liking to the sound made by a piece of debris when Heston kicked it during the scene of Ben-Hur returning to his house after escaping and did several more takes trying to recapture it. When he told Heston what he wanted, Heston wondered why he hadn't just asked him to kick the thing again.

** Wyler was so impressed with Creator/DavidLean's work on ''Film/TheBridgeOnTheRiverKwai'' that he asked Lean to direct the famous chariot race sequence. Lean would have received full screen credit for the job--"Chariot Race directed by David Lean." He declined the offer, knowing that Wyler was a truly talented director and could certainly pull it off himself.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: While the film was in production, producer Sam Zimbalist died of a heart attack in November 1958. Wyler and Joseph Judson "J.J." Cohn consequently assumed Zimbalist's position at MGM's request.

* ActingInTheDark: Director Creator/WilliamWyler and co-screenwriter Creator/GoreVidal told Stephen Boyd, the actor portraying Messala, to play him as if he and Judah had been lovers as youths and that his vindictiveness is therefore motivated by a sexual and romantic rejection as much as a political one. They did not, however, tell Charlton Heston, who found out years later and was ''not'' pleased. This did add an interesting dynamic to the scenes between Judah and Messala, since Heston's uncomfortable reactions to some of Boyd's behavior came off as reluctance towards his former lover.

** Creator/AvaGardner was considered for Esther.

** Creator/MarlonBrando, Creator/MontgomeryClift, Creator/TonyCurtis, Creator/KirkDouglas, Creator/RockHudson[[note]] He turned it down due to his commitment to ''Literature/AFarewellToArms''[[/note]], Creator/BurtLancaster[[note]]As an Atheist, he found the story offensive[[/note]], Creator/PaulNewman[[note]]He declined, saying that he didn't have the legs to wear a toga.[[/note]] and Creator/LeslieNielsen were all considered to play Ben-Hur before Creator/CharltonHeston was cast.