Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925 film) Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925 film) Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a 1925 American silent epic adventure-drama film directed by Fred Niblo and written by June Mathis based on the 1880 novel "" by General Lew Wallace. Starring Ramon Novarro as the title character, the film is the first feature-length adaptation of the novel and second overall, following the 1907 short. In 1997, "Ben-Hur" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Ben-Hur is a wealthy young Jewish prince and boyhood
Ramon Novarro murder of Novarro. In a 1998 interview, Paul Ferguson finally assumed the blame for Novarro’s death. Ramón Novarro is buried in Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles, California. Ramón Novarro's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6350 Hollywood Boulevard. Novarro's murder served as the basis for the short story by Charles Bukowski called "The Murder of Ramon Vasquez", as well as for the song "Tango," by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, recorded by Peggy Lee on her "Mirrors" album. Novarro's murder is among the many epochal events recalled in Joan Didion's meditative 'California zeitgeist' essay "The White Album".