Like the vast majority of truly great movies, the element of Ben-Hur that resonates most deeply is the tale within its stimulating tableaus. In Ben-Hur, what you see on screen is really there, with some exceptions of course, like painted mural backgrounds and early green screen technology, thanks to the work of special effects engineer Petro Vlahos.

This, of course, is a common practice in the digital age, but in re-visiting old Hollywood, the appreciation value of the time and energy it took to film each sequence is exponentially higher. The latter digitally reproduced large swaths of its crowd to create the illusion of a Colosseum brimming with spectators. The former relied on the work of 1,500 extras (10,000 for the whole production). Consider Ben-Hur’s crowd sequences as compared to that of, say, Gladiator. Even today it’s a marvelous achievement-technically, practically, physically.Īs the cinema progressed technologically, practical effects diminished. Of course, no sequence in the film is as breathtaking as the iconic chariot race, which occurs at the end of the second act. Wyler and DP Robert Surtees took advantage of the extended scope as often as they could, capturing so much allure across the pastoral Italian countrysides and hills, and sets dressed up as first century Jerusalem, rendering the film a beautiful work of art. It tells you in its opening credits that it was shot on the MGM Camera 65, that is, an anamorphic lens producing a much wider aspect ratio than had been the norm until its introduction two years prior. The finished product-one that took nearly eight months to shoot, resulting in over one million feet of film-is a sight to behold.

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