Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ has Ben Hur among her lovers, which serves as one of the hints the "time travel" is actually a form of reality manipulation. More than one tribute to Wallace's most famous book and its fictional hero have been erected near Wallace's home in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum honors the character of Judah Ben-Hur with a limestone frieze of his imagined face installed over the entrance to the study. Wallace's grave marker at the cemetery in Crawfordsville includes a line from the Balthazar character in "Ben-Hur": "I would not give one hour of life as a
Production of Ben-Hur (1959 film) decisions forcing film studios to divest themselves of theater chains and the competitive pressure of television had caused significant financial distress at MGM. In a gamble to save the studio, and inspired by the success of Paramount Pictures' 1956 Biblical epic "The Ten Commandments", studio head Joseph Vogel announced in 1957 that MGM would again move forward on a remake of "Ben-Hur". Filming started in May 1958 and wrapped in January 1959, and post-production took six months. Although the budget for "Ben-Hur" was initially $7 million, it was reported to be $10 million by February 1958, reaching $15 million by