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
Aunt Jemima open a pancake restaurant that attracts tourists at the Shore of New Jersey. It becomes a great success and eventually is packaged and sold as Aunt Delilah's Pancake Mix. The Academy Award nominated 1934 film version of "Imitation of Life" starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers retains this part of the plot, which was excised from the 1959 remake of "Imitation of Life" starring Lana Turner and directed by Douglas Sirk. They did however achieve success due to selling the flour with a smiling Delilah on the box dressed in Aunt Jemima fashion. "Aunt Jemima", a minstrel-type variety radio program,