Production of Ben-Hur (1959 film) 10 to 12 pages of it. Shooting lasted for 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week. On Sundays, Wyler would meet with Fry and Zimbalist for story conferences. The pace of the film was so grueling that a doctor was brought onto the set to give a vitamin B complex injection to anyone who requested it (shots which Wyler and his family later suspected may have contained amphetamines). Wyler was unhappy with Heston's performances, feeling they did not make Judah Ben-Hur a plausible character. Wyler shot 16 takes of Heston saying, "I'm a Jew!" By November 1958,
Ben-Hur (play) huge crowds, has had to be expressly strengthened and shored up". There have been other stage adaptations since the initial production in 1899, including a London production staged in 2009 at the O2 arena featuring a live chariot race. The book was also adapted for motion pictures in 1907, 1925, 1959, 2003, 2016, and as an American television miniseries in 2010. The 1959 film adaptation, starring Charlton Heston and featuring the famous chariot race, won a record eleven Academy Awards and was the top-grossing film of 1960. Notes Bibliography Ben-Hur (play) Ben-Hur was an 1899 theatrical adaption of the novel