Ben-Hur (1959 film) New York City on November 18, 1959. Present at the premiere were William Wyler, Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Martha Scott, Ramon Novarro (who played Judah Ben-Hur in the 1925 silent film version), Spyros Skouras (president of the 20th Century Fox), Barney Balaban (president of Paramount Pictures), Jack L. Warner (president of Warner Bros.), Leonard Goldenson (president of the American Broadcasting Company), Moss Hart (playwright), Robert Kintner (an ABC Television executive), Sidney Kingsley (playwright), and Adolph Zukor (founder of Paramount Pictures). During its initial release the film earned $33.6 million in North American theater rentals (the distributor's share of
Little Annie Rooney (1925 film) critical success as well as a triumph at the box office, becoming one of the highest grossing films of 1925. This film was a particular achievement for Pickford after the lukewarm reception for her last two starring efforts. Pickford biographer Eileen Whitfield wrote, "One watches in amazement as Pickford, at thirty-three, fresh from the seductions of "Rosita" and the stiff declamations of "Dorothy Vernon", slips into the body of a twelve-year-old tomboy." "Little Annie Rooney" was restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2014 from Pickford's personal 35mm tinted nitrate print and contains longer scenes, different camera set-ups, and better