Ben-Hur (1959 film) the box office), generating approximately $74.7 million in box office sales. Outside of North America, it earned $32.5 million in rentals (about $72.2 million at the box office) for a worldwide total of $66.1 million in rental earnings, roughly equivalent to $146.9 million in box office receipts. It was the fastest-grossing film as well as the highest-grossing film of 1959, in the process becoming the second-highest-grossing film of all-time (at that time) behind "Gone with the Wind". "Ben-Hur" saved MGM from financial disaster, making a profit of $20,409,000 on its initial release, and another $10.1 million in profits when re-released
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,