From the announcement of the production on Dec. 13, 1952 in Hedda Hopper’s nationally syndicated column to its star-studded “Gala Premier” at the Loew’s State Theatre at Broadway and 45th Street in New York City on Nov. 18, 1959, the film was the talk of the film industry for nearly seven full years. From who would star (a long list of names) — with Charlton Heston finally selected (he captured the Oscar for Best Actor) — who would write the film adaptation (at least a dozen scripts were in the mix) and where it would be filmed.
There were on the order of 50,000 (a nice round number) extras used and 365 speaking parts … Ben-Hur, was — by any standard of measurement — a mammoth film production.
When it first came to VHS (remember videocassettes … another world) it was a pan-and-scan release, however it was decided (in a daring move at the time) that the chariot race sequence (2.76:1 aspect ratio) would be presented in its proper aspect ratio, which meant a slow transition from 1.33:1 to 2.76:1 and then back to pan-and-scan at the end of the race. It worked like a charm!!
No such “transitions” will be necessary with the 4K Ultra HD release of Ben-Hur on Feb. 17.
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