#judah ben hur

[vildo]

Messāla and his fours Ben-hur 1959

[zanephillips]

JOSEPH MORGAN Ben Hur (2010)

[cursemewithyourkiss]

I've seen both the 1925 and the 1959 version of Ben-Hur and it's fascinating to me how the dynamic between Judah and Messala is almost the opposite from one to the other. In 1925, Messala is the physically imposing one and Judah kind of seems to idolise him, but in 1959 it's Messala who seems really in love with Judah and looks up to him (literally).

[pedroam-bang]

Ben-Hur (1959)

[hiimcanadia]

Okay obviously I realized that Ben-Hur takes place around the same time as Jesus but I was not expecting Jesus to actually show up in it. Which I'm now realizing is kind of silly because he's mentioned by name on the back of the DVD case but still. I was sort of expecting this to be like "yeaahhh the Jesus stuff is happening over there but this is Judah's story so we don't have to worry about that other guy"

[cinemaastimegoesby]

In 1963 photographer Bert Stern photographed some of the top actors/actresses at the height of their fame playing their dream roles for a photo series in LIFE magazine's December 20, 1963 issue.

Cary Grant as Charlie Chaplin's Tramp / Audrey Hepburn as Pearl White in 'Perils of Pauline' / Tony Curtis & Natalie Wood as Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky in 'The Sheik' / Paul Newman as a Douglas Fairbanks Sr. swashbuckler / Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin as Judah Ben-Hur and Messala from 'Ben-Hur' / Bing Crosby & Bob Hope as 1930s gangsters / Jack Lemmon as a war pilot / Shirley MacLaine as one of Busby Berkeley's showgirls / Rock Hudson as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[trinityofone]

Queer cinema buffs, just wanted to point out something that leapt out to me about OFMD 2x02. The scene where Ed and Izzy talk after Izzy has had his leg amputated is framed and shot in a way that I think deliberately echoes Ben-Hur (1959).

We know Davey Jenkins is a classic cinema fan, and Taika and Con have compared Ed and Izzy to Jesus and Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. I swear Con referenced Ben-Hur at one point too, though now I can't find a source. But it's a film with infamous gay undertones: Gore Vidal came on board and queered up the relationship between Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and his boyhood bestie/rival, Messala (Stephen Boyd) -- Boyd played them as former lovers intentionally, while Heston was, uh, not informed. (Vidal is a huge bitch about Heston in his memoir; recommended.)

Pictured: just bro stuff.

Anyway -- uh, spoilers for Ben-Hur -- in the scene in question, Messala, who has betrayed Judah and gotten him sold into slavery (it's a whole thing), then faces his rival in a chariot race, cheats, and is the source of his own downfall, getting trampled by horses. He is told he needs to have both his legs amputated or he will die, but he refuses and instead confronts his former friend (lover?) one last time.

I wish I could find better caps of this, but the way it's shot -- the dark room, the way the light plays across his face, even the angle of his head -- immediately popped into my head when I saw the parallel scene in OFMD 2x02.

(Gif by @hgedits)

Now of course, Izzy is not the cause of his own predicament to the extent that Messala is; he and Ed have both made the bed he now lies in together. Which is why Izzy gets to get up from his death bed and Messala doesn't.

Maybe, unlike Messala, he'll also be able to escape the Celluloid Closet! *manifesting Izzy Hands gay makeout scene in S2*

Anyway, Ben-Hur is a real good movie, you should watch it.

[vildo]

…these dreams are attached to a horse that would never tire

[velvet4510]

For all my fellow vintage movie fans out there. Share a couple from a classic film who you think deserve more attention! (Be sure to check out round 2, round 3, round 4, and round 5.) Please reblog for bigger sample size. :)

[mudwerks]

(via PEPLUM TV: Image of the week!)

Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is sent to the galleys of a warship in BEN-HUR (1959)

[writesaboutdragons]

365 Promises of God

Day 339 – You Are No Longer a Slave but a Son

Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Gal 4:7 NKJV)

Read: Galatians 4:1-7

One of the most gripping and popular books of the 19th century became one of the most popular Christian movies of the last century. The movie is Ben Hur, a tale about a Jew named Judah Ben-Hur who befriends the son of a tax collector named Messala. Messala ends up Judah’s worst enemy, when a passing parade dislodges a tile from Ben Hur’s roof, and the falling tile injures the Roman governor.

Messala accuses Judah of an attempted assassination, and Judah is sentenced to become a galley slave without trial or defense. His property is confiscated, his family imprisoned, and Judah vows revenge, both on Messala and Rome. Judah is led away in shackles, but meets Jesus on the road, where Jesus has compassion on him and offers him water. The chance encounter stays on Judah’s mind and he can’t get it out of his head. The captain of his slave ship, Arrius, learns of his lineage as a Jewish prince, and demands he remain unshackled at the oars. This allows Judah to escape drowning when the ship is destroyed during a battle. Judah could escape alone, but he finds Arrius drowning, and saves him. This pivotal act of compassion causes Arrius to adopt Judah as his son. The change in fortune is breathtaking. From a slave to a son.

The transformation in that scene is a microcosm of the transformation in the entire work, for Judah has been throughout most of the book/movie to be a slave of his desire for revenge. But God intends differently, and In the end he becomes a son of the Living God.

Charleton Heston did a masterful job portraying this character, the character, if you will, of everyone. For we have all been a slave in the past. We may not have looked like it, but it’s true. A slave to greed, or lust, or fashion, or popularity. A slave to power, or gossip. A slave to some addiction or desire. A slave to entertainment or even our jobs and the rat race they embody. Yet, for those of us who, like the fictional character Judah Ben-Hur, have followed the Christ, we are promised that we are NO LONGER slave to the past. To that addiction. To our reputation or our wealth.

We are now sons and daughters of the living God. We may still think we are slaves to those things, but God has declared plainly that through His power we are free. Those shackles may be on your wrists, but they are not locked! That cage you seem to be in has an open door. So, dear Christian, walk in freedom, for you are a child of the King.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you that I am no longer a slave! May I walk in freedom, today. Amen

[orlaite]

favourite romances in film?

Karl Oskar and Kristina in Jan Troell's Utvandrarna and Nybyggarna

Jack and Rose in Titanic

Marianne and Heloise in Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Laura and Alec in Brief Encounter

Jack and Sally in Blow Out

Bud Baxter and Fran Kubelik in The Apartment

Cathy and Raymond in Far From Heaven

Lara and Yuri in Doctor Zhivago

Apropos although they're not all necessarily my "favourite romances" (which requires both characters each be fully realized and not just a narrative device) I'm a sucker for "lightning strike" first looks in movie romances; some of my favourites being Jack and Rose in Titanic, Michael and Apollonia in The Godfather, Judah and Esther in Ben-Hur, Freder and Maria in Metropolis, and Siegfried and Kriemhild in Die Nibelungen: Siegfried.

[lizzybeth1986]

List 10 of your Childhood Ships

Thanks @grapecaseschoices for tagging me in this (and high five on being a fellow Captain von Trapp x Maria fan!)

So I was born in the late 80s and was very much a 90s kid...so these are the pairings I really liked back as a kid and a teen! Quite a bit of Hollywood, a little Disney/animation, and some Hindi and Tamil films!

Georg x Maria from Sound of Music (I'm certain this was the first time I ever shipped a couple)

Judah x Esther from Ben Hur

Corrina x Manny from Corrina Corrina

Henry x Danielle from Ever After: A Cinderella Story

William x Anna from Nottinghill

Major Bala x Meenakshi from Kandukondein Kandukondein

Anya x Dimitri from Anastasia

Anthony x Jenny from Amar Akbar Anthony

Vicky (Ajay) x Priya from Baazigar

Pooja x Raghu from Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin

Tagging @thefirstcourtesan @callmetippytumbles @ohsnapitzlovehacker @angelasscribbles @sazanes @thecapturedafrique @cassiopeiacorvus @ao719 @tessa-liam @noesapphic and anyone else who would like to do this tag game!! (No pressure if you don't feel like playing 🤗)

[cinema-tv-etc]

Movie Moments: Was Ben Hur gay? 

Leo suggested a classic such as Ben-Hur, The Magnificent Seven or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, for a Movie Moments, hence this selection. One interesting item about Ben-Hur, released in 1959, is its underlying gay aspect. The story: Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a wealthy merchant of noble blood living in Jerusalem. His childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd), a tribune, arrives in Jerusalem to command the Roman garrison. At first happy to be reunited, they argue over Messala’s belief in the glory of Rome and imperial power, and Judah’s commitment to his faith and the Jewish people. They part in anger. When a tile is accidentally dislodged from the roof of Judah’s house, almost killing the newly arrived governor, Messala sentences Judah to the galleys although he knows him to be innocent. Judah’s sister and mother are sent to prison. On the way to the galley, Judah is given water by a then unknown Jesus. A galley slave for 3 years, Judah saves the life of Quintus Arrius, the Roman commander, during a battle. All charges are dropped against Judah and Arrius eventually adopts Judah as his son. Judah returns to Jerusalem and confronts Messala, demanding that his mother and sister be freed. Unbeknownst to Judah, they have become lepers and have been sent to live in the Valley of the Lepers, away from everyone else. Esther, a servant girl in love with Judah, discovers the truth but tells Judah that they are dead. When Judah is offered the chance to race a sheik’s chariot and 4 Arabian stallions in an upcoming race before Pilate, Judah accepts when he learns that Messala will be racing and is considered the finest charioteer in the land. The chariot race: The chariot race is one of the great film moments in history, filmed before the days of computer generated effects. It can be viewed at: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQvpJsTvxU Messala eliminates the other charioteers one by one but in the final confrontation with Judah, Messala’s chariot loses a wheel and he ends up being badly trampled. On his deathbed, he refuses amputation which may save his life, stating that he will not meet Judah with half a body. When he is asked how he knows that Judah will come, he hisses that he will come. We then see Judah’s silhouette against the light in the doorway. The following exchange takes place, one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in the movie: Messala: Triumph complete, Judah. The race won. The enemy destroyed. Ben-Hur: I see no enemy. Messala: What do you think you see? The smashed body of a wretched animal! Is enough of a man still left here for you to hate? Let me help you...You think they're dead. Your mother and sister. Dead. And the race over. It isn't over, Judah. They're not dead. Ben-Hur: Where are they? Where are they? (shouting) Where are they? Messala: (vengefully) Look for them in the Valley of the Lepers, if you can recognise them. (Grabbing Judah's clothing) It goes on. It goes on, Judah. The race, the race is not over. He dies gloating at Judah's horror, More than friends? Hollywood in 1959 was not a place to make statements about being gay, or to portray “the love that dare not speak its name”, as Oscar Wilde referred to homosexuality. There has been conjecture and commentary for many years that the relationship between Judah and Messala was more than friendship. This has been denied by the studio but conjecture persist. In the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, which examined how Hollywood treated gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters, Gore Vidal recounted that he had been brought in to rewrite parts of the script, including the relationship between Judah and Messala. Director William Wyler was not satisfied that two men who had been close friends as youths could end up hating each other after disagreeing on politics. Vidal came up with the idea and subtext that the two had been lovers as teenagers and that Messala’s anger and hate come from Judah’s rejection of him. Wilder agreed provided that there was no direct reference to the sexuality and he discussed it with Stephen Boyd, who played Messala. He was told not to discuss it with Charlton Heston, who would freak out over the subtext. Heston later denied both the gay subtext and that Vidal had had any input into the script, a comment rebutted by Vidal by referring to Heston’s 1978 autobiography in which he stated that Vidal had been the author of much of the final shooting script. A bit of trivia: At about the 5.37 mark on the above Youtube clip, you will see Judah get thrown forward out of the chariot and get back in. The stunt man being thrown out and forward, and getting back in, was unintended but looked good on film so it was kept in. A scene was shot with Heston getting back in to the chariot to link with the above footage. How’s that Leo?

http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com/2010/01/movie-moments-was-ben-hur-gay.html

[bodybebangin]

100. Ben-Hur (1959)

it took me several days but i finally got through this one. it was quite the epic. i really had no clue what this movie was about. i thought maybe something about chariot racing and there was that. i didn't know it was religious but i probably should've guessed that. there were several moments that felt very homoerotic which was fun. i loved how dramatic people were when they cried. they'd just throw themselves against a person or a surface of some kind to sob. i think it could also be considered a stealth christmas movie since it did have the birth. anyway. i loved seeing messala getting his ass trampled. i'm not sure how it was fair for his chariot to have weapons. i guess the others should've thought to do that too. the accents and the casting felt a bit suspicious. the sheer scale of this movie was impressive. there were so many people and so many horses. i really loved the mom and the sister being lepers and that whole storyline. of course they were cured miraculously at the end. i personally could've done without that whole jesus part (although i did like them never showing his face) but is this supposed to be a story from the bible?? i honestly don't know and don't care. it was nice for them to have that sweet reunion at the end with judah but i sort of feel like this movie should've ended on a sad note instead maybe. i don't know. or at least a wedding with esther.

i'd never watch this again but i enjoyed it for the most part. if you've seen it, what'd you think?

next up is toy story!

[ladywaffles]

37 for ethan/ilsa please? 🥰

thank you mar :3

not realizing they're holding hands until someone points it out

Her body is moving before she registers it.

The only thing she knows is that Ethan was steady on his feet, and in the space between breaths, he’s falling.

She reaches out for him, and her eyes find his, and it’s like watching a movie play out in slow motion; his hand is centimeters out of her grasp, his eyes are greener than she remembers them ever being, and the look on his face is already apologetic, as if to say, it’s okay if you don’t save me, I forgive you, before she’s even had the chance to try.

Not today, you absolute bastard, she thinks to herself, lunging for him with a desperate urgency.

She catches him, and then Benji catches her, and Ethan is hanging off the roof of an old terrace in Jerusalem, and her heart must be beating at half the speed of sound by now. God bless all the swim coaches who made her swim extra laps to get her core strength up, because she can pull Ethan up without too much effort, Benji and Luther and Brandt holding her steady as Ethan inches upwards.

They collapse in a tangle on the loose tile, breathless and jumpy. She can feel her pulse hammering in her chest. She can feel Ethan’s heartbeat hammering in his chest.

“What, you didn’t like my impression of Judah Ben-Hur?” Ethan asks with a teasing glint in his eye, as if he wasn’t seconds away from falling to his death on an old cobblestone street.

Ilsa drives an elbow into his ribs and relishes in the way it makes him wheeze. “You’re not as funny as you think you are,” she tells him.

“And if they’ve been telling you you’re funny, they’re just lying to you because they think you’re pretty.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Ethan grins. He’s still panting from the effort it took to pull himself up. He has no right to be making jokes right now.

She rolls her eyes. “Of course that would be your takeaway.”

“Actually, Ben-Hur didn’t make the tile fall,” Benji points out.

“Are we really going to argue semantics right now?” Ethan asks, somewhat offended, lifting his head up just enough to look at Benji. She shoots him a grateful smile. If Ethan’s going to be difficult moments after he nearly died, then he absolutely deserves what he’s getting.

“The roof tile was old and it just fell on its own. It was an accident. Ben-Hur never tried to kill Pilate, he was just the unlucky sod who owned the house,” Benji says. “So your impression would be incorrect.”

“See, Benji thinks you’re not funny,” Ilsa says.

“Benji loves me,” Ethan counters.

“You know, you can let go of him now, Ilsa,” Brandt pipes up. “He’s not going anywhere, he’s flat on his back, back on solid ground.”

“Solid is relative,” Benji adds.

Ilsa looks down. Sure enough, her hand is still gripping Ethan’s like a vise. She uncurls her fingers, the knuckles slowly going from white to pink to red as the blood flow comes back. If she lets her fingers linger for just a moment longer to brush against his, no one else would’ve seen it. It would be just for her and Ethan to share.

“Thank you for saving me,” he says lowly, in a grateful tone that feels all too serious now.

“It’s nothing, Ethan. You would do the same for me.”

The smile he gives her is enough to stop her heart again, for a completely different, and much more welcome, reason.

send me a type of touch, a number, and a pairing!