Ben-Hur (1959 film) scenes if the first unit slowed down. Actresses Martha Scott and Cathy O'Donnell spent almost the entire month of November 1958 in full leprosy make-up and costumes so that Wyler could shoot "leper scenes" when other shots didn't go well. Wyler was unhappy with Heston's performances, feeling they did not make Judah Ben-Hur a plausible character, and Heston had to reshoot "I'm a Jew" 16 times. Shooting took nine months, which included three months for the chariot race scene alone. Principal photography ended on January 7, 1959, with filming of the crucifixion scene, which took four days to shoot. Italy
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ the left, he caught Messala’s wheel with the iron-shod point of his axle, and crushed it". By the time of "Ben-Hur"'s publication in 1880, Wallace had already published his first novel, "The Fair God; or, The Last of the 'Tzins" (1873), and "Commodus: An Historical Play" (1876) that was never produced. He went on to publish several more novels and biographies, including "The Prince of India; or, Why Constantinople Fell" (1893), a biography of President Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and "The Wooing of Malkatoon" (1898), but "Ben-Hur" remained his most significant work and best-known novel. "Humanities" editor Amy Lifson named