OSCAR PREDICTIONS AND OSCAR NEWS

The historical epic “Ben-Hur,” which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1959 boasted achievements in a number of departments. It was the most expensive film ever made to date, with a budget of $15 million, one fifth of which was allocated for promotion and advertisement. The film was produced in Rome by Sam Zimablist, who reportedly constructed 3,000 sets and employed over 50,000 people.

The highly anticipated movie world-premiered at the Egyptian, on Hollywood Boulevard, on November 24, 1959, and soon after became a movie event, the most-talked about picture of the year–for a variety of reasons.

“Ben-Hur” is still the first remake to ever win Best Picture Oscar. Back in 1959, it won the largest number of awards to date: eleven out of its twelve nominations. The only category in which the film lost was screenplay, credited to Karl Tunberg, though at least four distinguished writers contributed to its writing: Maxwell Anderson, S.N. Behrman, Christopher Frye, and Gore Vidal, which might have been the reason for its loss; the well-deserved winner was Neil Paterson for “Room at the Top.”  
“Ben-Hur” was the only historical spectacle in the Best Picture contest, up against small, intimate movies, such as Otto Preminger’s “Anatomy of a Murder,” George Stevens’s Holocaust drama “The Diary of Anne Frank,” Fred Zinnemann’s morality tale “The Nun’s Story,” and Jack Clayton’s UK realistic drama “Room at the Top.”  
Based on Lew Wallace’s popular novel about the rise of Christianity, “Ben-Hur” features spectacular visual effects. The stunning chariot race, choreographed by Hollywood’s top second unit directors, headed by Yakima Canutt. Its acting, by contrast, is not spectacular and Charlton Heston, who was cast after Universal refused to loan out Rock Hudson, is reasonably good in the title role of a converted Christian, in conflict with Massalla (Stephen Boyd), the Roman commander and his former childhood friend.  
But the film’s shortcoming did not matter much, since “Ben-Hur” was marked by a then new visual sweep and enough pageantry to entertain audiences for its epic length, 217 minutes.  
Overcoming MGM’s initial fears, “Ben-Hur” was such an instant commercial success that its grosses were weekly reported to the public to make it seem as “a must-see” movie, which it became, with the assistance of mostly good reviews and word of mouth. Playing for months, the movie grossed over $80 million in worldwide rentals.

Credits:

Budget: $15 million
Running time: 212 Minutes

Oscar Nominations: 12 

Picture, produced by Sam Zimbalist 

Director: William Wyler 

Screenplay (Adapted): Karl Tunberg 

Actor: Charlton Heston 

Supporting Actor: Hugh Griffith 

Cinematography (color): Robert L. Surtees 

Art Direction-Set Decoration (color: William A. Horning and Edward Carfagno; Hugh Hunt 

Film Editing: Ralph E. Winters 

Costume Design (color): Elizabeth Haffenden 

Scoring (Dramatic or Comedy): Miklos Rozsa 

Sound: Franklin F. Milton 

Special Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie and Robert MacDonald, visual; Milo Lory, audible 

Oscar Awards: 11 

Picture 

Director 

Actor 

Supporting Actor 

Cinematography  

Art Direction-Set Decoration  

Film Editing  

Costume Design  

Scoring 

Sound 

Special Effects 

Oscar Context 

In 1959, “Ben-Hur” won over Preminger’s courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder,” which lost in each of its 7 categories; the Holocaust drama, “The Diary of Anne Frank,” which received 7 nominations and won 3; Fred Zinnemann’s morality tale “The Nun’s Story,” which also lost in each of its 7 nominations, and the superb British drama “Room at the Top,” which won 2 out of its 6 nominations.