Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925 film) his body. Gertrude Olmstead was cast as Esther. While on location in Italy, Walsh was fired and replaced by Ramon Novarro. The role of Esther went to May McAvoy. Shooting began in Rome, Italy in October 1923 under the direction of Charles Brabin who was replaced shortly after filming began. Additional recastings (including Ramon Novarro as Ben-Hur) and a change of director caused the production's budget to skyrocket. After two years of difficulties and accidents, the production was eventually moved back to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Culver City, California and production resumed in the spring of 1925. B. Reeves Eason and Christy
Sleeping Beauty (1959 film) 70mm prints. The Super Technirama 70 prints were equipped with six-track stereophonic sound; some CinemaScope-compatible 35mm Technirama prints were released in four-track stereo, and others had monaural soundtracks. On the initial run, "Sleeping Beauty" was paired with the short musical/documentary film "Grand Canyon" which won an Academy Award. During its original release in January 1959, "Sleeping Beauty" grossed approximately $5.3 million in theater rentals (the distributor's share of the box office gross). "Sleeping Beauty's" production costs, which totaled $6 million, made it the most expensive Disney film up to that point, and over twice as expensive as each of the