This past April I went to see Ben Hur at the Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge IL. I tried to imagine myself as a film goer of 1959 seeing this up on the screen for the first time. The lavish sets and cinematography really are nothing but impressive. Experiencing that chariot race again reminded me that none of it was done with CGI.
The Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, Illinois opened in 1928
"Ben-Hur" started at 7 PM, and left the theater at about 11 PM
Now Showing: "Ben Hur".
I've always been curious about the film's subtitle "A Tale of the Christ". This subtitle made a bit more sense to me on this rewatch, seeing how the entire film leads up to the final miracle of Christ. In the Bible a number of Christ's miracles are mentioned, including healings; what's not told are the life stories of those people that were healed, such as the blind man for example. This movie is an attempt to dramatize one of those families touched by the Christ.