The 1959 film “Ben-Hur” remains a popular Easter viewing tradition. But it wasn't the first 'Ben-Hur' film: That one sparked a huge legal battle over movie rights.
One of the most-watched movies on TV in that era, the blockbuster film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins and Stephen Boyd remains a popular Easter viewing tradition for many people. Its depiction of Jewish hero Judah Ben-Hur confronting the treachery of Roman friend Messala against the backdrop of Christ’s crucifixion continues to draw countless viewers each year.
There were “waves of religious ecstasy that followed the publication of the novel, which is the most influential Christian book written in the nineteenth century,” stated Amy Lifson in “,” an article she wrote for the National Endowment of the Humanities’ NEA’s Humanities magazine in 2009. The novel also spawned a significant stage spectacular — licensed by the author — that involved live horses running on treadmills in the climactic chariot race. An estimated 10 million people attended this Broadway extravaganza and subsequent touring production, which ran for approximately 6,000 performances over 20 years.Two years after Wallace’s death in 1905, the nascent film industry took aim at “Ben-Hur.