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
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ book, "Ben-Hur" returned to the top of the bestseller lists in the 1960s. At the time of the book's 100th anniversary in 1980, "Ben-Hur" had never been out of print and had been adapted for the stage and several motion pictures. "Ben-Hur" was popular in its own day despite slow initial sales and mixed reviews from contemporary literary critics, who "found its romanticism passé and its action pulpy". "Century" magazine called it an "anachronism" and "The Atlantic" panned its descriptions as "too lavish". For its readers, however, the book "resonated with some of the most significant issues in late Victorian