Ben-Hur (1959) Collector’s Edition
2.76:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
Dolby Digital 5.1
Warner Home Video, $39.98

Much has been written about 1939 being the “best-ever” year for Hollywood movies, but less attention has been paid to the stunning renaissance that occurred 20 years later, when the studio system was only a few years away from collapse. 1959 saw the release of Anatomy of a Murder, The Diary of Anne Frank, Imitation of Life, North by Northwest, Ride Lonesome, Rio Bravo and Some Like It Hot, to name just a few titles. Though all of these movies were remarkable, one massive film overshadowed them at that year’s Academy Awards ceremony: MGM’s Ben-Hur, which was nominated for 12 Oscars and won 11 of them.

Perhaps the most deserving win was for director of photography Robert Surtees, ASC, whose career comprised studio-system classics (The Bad and the Beautiful) and cutting-edge works (The Graduate, The Last Picture Show). Shot in a 65mm process developed by Panavision called MGM Camera 65, Ben-Hur may have been the most ambitious of Surtees’ 70-plus productions.

The detail and scope of the 65mm frame made it a perfect fit for the subject matter of Ben-Hur and the stylistic predisposition of its director, William Wyler. Although Wyler was generally known for more intimate dramas (The Best Years of Our Lives, Roman Holiday), his style relies on maximum artistic expression within the frame, calling for a complex interaction between actor and camera. This is certainly true of Ben-Hur, which has the added component of an epic scale; the film features thousands of extras, staggeringly elaborate sets, and intricately choreographed action sequences.

That the movie never loses its clarity is largely due to Surtees’ work. (Harold E. Wellman, ASC and Pietro Portalupi are credited with additional cinematography on the picture.) Throughout the film’s nearly four-hour running time, your eye is guided precisely where Surtees wants it to be in the 2.76:1 frame. Indeed, Ben-Hur’s emotional impact depends almost entirely on its technical execution. The film contains more pageantry than plot and its pacing leaves something to be desired, but it is ultimately a triumph of old-fashioned Hollywood craftsmanship. The direction, production design, cinematography and costumes are impeccable, and the cumulative effect of all the visual detail is overwhelming.

Those details can be studied at length on Warner Home Video’s four-disc collector’s edition DVD, which offers a pristine transfer that preserves the movie’s dynamic use of color and the tonal range of Surtees’ cinematography. The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix is clear almost to a fault — the dialogue looping and inconsistencies in the source material are occasionally obvious. For the most part, however, the movie sounds terrific, and the disc provides a music-only track that allows the viewer to appreciate the emotional sweep of Miklos Rozsa’s score. A commentary track by actor Charlton Heston and film historian T. Gene Hatcher combines affectionate reminiscences with illuminating details about the production.

Wyler’s Ben-Hur comprises the first two discs of the set. Disc three features the 1925 silent Ben-Hur (on which a young Wyler worked as assistant director). Although the later adaptation of the story benefits from more modern technology, the silent version is just as impressive, meshing special effects, camera movement and editing to create an awe-inspiring spectacle. Four ASC cinematographers — Rene Guissart, Percy Hilburn, Karl Struss and Clyde DeVinna — are credited on the picture, which helped define MGM’s house style for years to come. This picture transfer restores the tinted and two-strip color sequences and looks better than any prior video release, in spite of some flaws inherent in the source material.

The set’s fourth disc contains two 60-minute documentaries, the best of which, “Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic,” was featured on previous home-video editions of the film. The new documentary “Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema” features dozens of interviews with contemporary filmmakers, who discuss the film’s influence; many of their remarks are superficial or repeat information revealed in other supplements, but the passion for Ben-Hur conveyed by artists such as Ernest Dickerson, ASC and Ridley Scott makes the piece worth watching.

Other supplements include stills, storyboards, production reports and other documents, which are presented in a brief montage; trailers; newsreels; screen tests; and awards footage that is accompanied by annoyingly inconsistent sound. Ultimately, this set’s supplements are more celebratory than insightful, but for fans of Hollywood epics, this edition is well worth a look.

— Jim Hemphill