Viewing copy

I too am puzzled at some of these statements saying how much better the 1925 version is to the 1959 one! I was also very interested in seeing the 1925 version included in the new 4-disc Ben-Hur edition and thought it was indeed very good and must have been especially breathtaking when it first came out. I was very impressed with the scale of some of the sets- particularily the Circus (I'm still a bit unsure if those huge white towers in the background are real or matte paintings), the 2-strip technicolor, the "cast of thousands". The naval battle, using real ships in what looked to be open water and again filled with real people was in many ways superior to the hokier 1959 film's version. The crumbling down of the city wall's on the people below upon Christ's death was marvelously done- an extremely good special effect.

The chariot race was amazing, and indeed, the 1959 film owes much to the 1925 one for it, obviously. But that all said, there were many, many instances where the 1925 version showed its dated style. Bushman as Messala will unfortunately always suffer compared to the performance of Boyd; indeed, it's unfair to even compare the acting in each production because we are talking about two distinct eras and the evolution in acting and movie-making that had transpired in the 35 years between the two. I wouldn't hesitate to say that the 1959 version demonstrated in the best way the growth and maturity of the art of film-making.