Judah Ben-Hur Actor. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson turned down the role before Heston accepted it. In this version Ben-Hur becomes a Christian at the Crucifixion of Christ; whereas in the book Ben-Hur becomes a Christian earlier. Ben-Hur is given a more somewhat bitter personality; Balthazar, one of the three wise men having witnessed the birth of Christ begs him to listen to the teachings of Jesus but Judah rebuffs him saying that he has business with Rome. Blaming Rome for destroying the once good Messala (prior to his corruption) and what has happened to his family Judah refuses to
Production of Ben-Hur (1959 film) Production of Ben-Hur (1959 film) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) originally announced a remake of the 1925 silent film "Ben-Hur" in December 1952, ostensibly as a way to spend its Italian assets. Stewart Granger and Robert Taylor were reported to be in the running for the lead. Nine months later, MGM announced it would make the film in CinemaScope, with shooting beginning in 1954. In November 1953, MGM announced it had assigned producer Sam Zimbalist to the picture and hired screenwriter Karl Tunberg to write it. Zimbalist was chosen because he had produced MGM's Best Picture-nominated Christians-and-lions epic "Quo Vadis" in 1951. The