Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)

My Review

“Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ” is a landmark silent film epic following the story of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince betrayed by his childhood friend, the Roman tribune Messala. Judah survives imprisonment and is adopted by a Roman admiral, and returns to Jerusalem seeking vengeance, where his life begins to change as he meets Jesus Christ on numerous occasions. The drama proceeds from there, well directed by Fred Niblo and written by June Mathis, adapted from the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace.

Producer Louis B. Mayer pulled out all the stops to ensure high production values, though filming in Rome was plagued with problems and accidents. Production was eventually moved back to Culver City where “Ben-Hur” was completed. The watchable silent film “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ” was the second highest grossing film of 1925 for producers Louis B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg, and June Mathis, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The cast includes Ramon Novarro as Ben-Hur, Francis X. Bushman as Messala, Mary McAvoy as Esther, Betty Bronson as Mary, Winter Hall as Joseph, and Claude Payton as Jesus Christ. Some notable extras in the chariot race crowd include John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, Douglas Fairbanks, Dorothy Gish, Lillian Gish, Samuel Goldwyn, Sid Grauman, Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, and Mary Pickford.