BEN-HUR (1959) 5459F

Original MGM Color Printed Lithography Still (8x10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959)—starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally "a cast of thousands," but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was "Enormous." 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This color still of House of Hur with Cathy O'Donnell, Haya Harareet, Martha Scott, Sam Jaffe, and Charlton Heston was found with a cache of roadshow posters from the movie. The still is dated 1959 and is in very fine condition. We have several stills from this release available on the site.