Ben-Hur (1959 film) the box office), generating approximately $74.7 million in box office sales. Outside of North America, it earned $32.5 million in rentals (about $72.2 million at the box office) for a worldwide total of $66.1 million in rental earnings, roughly equivalent to $146.9 million in box office receipts. It was the fastest-grossing film as well as the highest-grossing film of 1959, in the process becoming the second-highest-grossing film of all-time (at that time) behind "Gone with the Wind". "Ben-Hur" saved MGM from financial disaster, making a profit of $20,409,000 on its initial release, and another $10.1 million in profits when re-released
Ramon Novarro Novarro's murder is also briefly referenced in the sixth season "The Sopranos" episode "Cold Stones", following the violent murder of a closeted homosexual character. In late 2005, the Wings Theatre in New York City staged the world premiere of "Through a Naked Lens" by George Barthel. The play combined fact and fiction to depict Ramon Novarro's rise to fame and his relationship with Hollywood journalist Herbert Howe. In 2015, the murder of Ramon Novarro was covered in the television series "Aquarius" in the episode "Cease to Resist". Novarro's relationship with Herbert Howe is discussed in two biographies: Allan R. Ellenberger's