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| marantzo |
 Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:20 pm |
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Quote: On the disc I have, there's a screen test of Leslie Nielsen in the Boyd role. It's a fairly lengthy early scene where the Roman tribune Messala meets Judah Ben Hur for the first time since they were boys.
Now there is a scene that defines the term, cringe worthy. I don't think Heston has ever been worse, and that's saying something. It may be in a tie for worst with many other scenes of his though.
I was cheering for Messala all the way. 
I just read about the scenes at sea and because the boat kept being capsized in the sea, they shot it in a pond instead with a painted sky. Yep, I was right. A big bathtub. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:24 pm |
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| The chapter on Ben Hur in a book I read about movies, I forget what book it was, was titled Don't Tell Chuck. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:47 pm |
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inlareviewer wrote: My favorite thing about Ben-Hur (Loved Ben, hated Hur) is recalling how Gore Vidal tacitly told Stephen Yummy, er, Boyd to play homosexual crush as subtext without letting Mr. Reactionary Heston know what he was up to, which adds extra camp to the Judah/Messala scenes. It's really an overblown movie, to put it charitably.
I guess it's fairly well known that Boyd was gay himself, so that must have been interesting. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:48 pm |
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marantzo wrote: Quote: On the disc I have, there's a screen test of Leslie Nielsen in the Boyd role. It's a fairly lengthy early scene where the Roman tribune Messala meets Judah Ben Hur for the first time since they were boys.
Now there is a scene that defines the term, cringe worthy. I don't think Heston has ever been worse, and that's saying something. It may be in a tie for worst with many other scenes of his though.
Including the big scene where Heston meets Jesus Christ. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:04 pm |
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| And tells Jesus what the true interpretation of the Law should be. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:38 pm |
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| Bosley Crowther (sp?) thought that dreadful scene with Christ and Judah was marvellous and didn't over-play the religious sentiment. Possibly the worst critic in print, ever! |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:24 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
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Location: Lawrence, KS
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billyweeds wrote: inlareviewer wrote: My favorite thing about Ben-Hur (Loved Ben, hated Hur) is recalling how Gore Vidal tacitly told Stephen Yummy, er, Boyd to play homosexual crush as subtext without letting Mr. Reactionary Heston know what he was up to, which adds extra camp to the Judah/Messala scenes. It's really an overblown movie, to put it charitably.
I guess it's fairly well known that Boyd was gay himself, so that must have been interesting.
It's clear that I was just born too late. Drat the luck. Could never see what Mr. NRA Charioteer saw in Haya Hayareet, not with Pretty Boyd Steve around (until the 11th reel, anyhoo). |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:34 pm |
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inlareviewer wrote: billyweeds wrote: inlareviewer wrote: My favorite thing about Ben-Hur (Loved Ben, hated Hur) is recalling how Gore Vidal tacitly told Stephen Yummy, er, Boyd to play homosexual crush as subtext without letting Mr. Reactionary Heston know what he was up to, which adds extra camp to the Judah/Messala scenes. It's really an overblown movie, to put it charitably.
I guess it's fairly well known that Boyd was gay himself, so that must have been interesting.
It's clear that I was just born too late. Drat the luck. Could never see what Mr. NRA Charioteer saw in Haya Hayareet, not with Pretty Boyd Steve around (until the 11th reel, anyhoo).
Plus which Harareet had zero or minus sex appeal herself. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:46 am |
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Looks like I am the only forum member of the "Ben Hur's not all that bad" club. For a biblical epic, that is.
gromit -
There's a pretty decent six hour miniseries edition of Quo Vadis, in the original Polish. Pretty faithful to the book, better than the overblown US epic production. Well, I don't recall tits in the book, but maybe it lost something in the translation. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:36 am |
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Biblical epics or even historical epics from that era which were made around the fifties were usually just fair or actually very bad. Even Kubrick's Spartacus was far from stellar. I saw it a few years ago after not having seen it is a long long time. I was surprised how sappy/corny it was.
The ones I've seen from the silent days are really good. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:47 am |
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Ben-Hur really isn't all that bad. It's the eleven Oscars and the fuss on it being the biblical epic* that get a lot of people dissing it.
*Or maybe second to The Ten Commandments, which is even cheesier. Being perverse, I prefer the silent Ben-Hur and The Prince of Egypt. |
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| lady wakasa |
| Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:48 am |
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The original Ben Hur (okay, the 1925 one, not the 1908 one) had some epic difficulties in being made (including dying extras, Italian anarchists, millions of wasted money, and a more or less complete cast change in the middle of filming). I can't help think that the Heston version wasn't in part trying to live up to some of that legend.
Speaking of the earlier one, there's 5-10 mins existing of the 1908 version. Stationary camera for the chariot scene is *not* a good idea.
And I'm with Whiskey and Syd. That was regular fare on afternoon tv when I was a kid, so while I'm not going to say it's perfect Ben Hur definitely has its place. |
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| lady wakasa |
| Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 12:39 pm |
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Great Ouch Moments in imdb History #649...
Original poster: I read in a book that a lion killed an extra during the filming of the 1925 Ben Hur, but the studio kept filming because lions were more expensive than extras.
Reply: I watched that version a few days ago, and you know what? There *are* no lions - in either the 1925 or 1959 versions.
(the op sounded off anyway, but still) |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 3:05 pm |
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Location: Lawrence, KS
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The lions are not what they seem (David Lynch version).
Partly at least, Ben-Hur doesn't strike me with awe as it once did since I can no longer sit down with the whole family when it airs, and see it as An Event. It, along with The Ten Commandments and Samson and Delilah, were de rigeur in my tot-dom, no doubt due to Bible-belt small-townshippery and Granny being a DeMille fan from her childhood. Just too painful. It's somehow not the same with, oh, The Sound of Music or Gone With the Wind, also house family faves.
And the time commitment seems excessively great just to (a) yearn inconclusively for Stephen Boyd, (b) automatically enjoy Hugh Griffith, (c) hold on until the mega-chariot race, and (d) observe Martha Scott and Cathy O'Donnell as lepers... |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 3:11 pm |
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lady wakasa wrote: Great Ouch Moments in imdb History #649...
Original poster: I read in a book that a lion killed an extra during the filming of the 1925 Ben Hur, but the studio kept filming because lions were more expensive than extras.
Reply: I watched that version a few days ago, and you know what? There *are* no lions - in either the 1925 or 1959 versions.
(the op sounded off anyway, but still) |
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