Judah Ben-Hur realising that forgiveness is more important than revenge. Esther becomes his wife and the mother of his children. Five years after the chariot race, Judah learns from Iras that she killed Messala. In approximately AD 64 (being the tenth year of Nero's reign), Judah finds out about the suffering of their fellow Christians. He gives his fortune to help construct the Catacomb of Callixtus and an underground church within the catacombs. In the Ben-Hur was portrayed by Ramon Novarro. In the 1959 film directed by William Wyler, Ben-Hur was played by Charlton Heston who won the Academy Award for Best
Humoresque (1946 film) leaning his soulful face against that violin or Miss Crawford violently emoting, . . . you may enjoy it very much." Franz Waxman received an Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. The film was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2002 list AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Passions. The films budget was estimated to be around $2,164,000. The film fared well at the box office and grossed $3,399,000 and the film was hailed a success. With inflation in 2007 the gross is $35,737,750. According to Warner Bros records the film earned $2,281,000 domestically