The Bible in film Christ with a climactic resurrection scene in color. "King of Kings" was re-released in 1931 with a synchronized musical score. MGM's 1925 silent-era "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ", starring Ramon Novarro was the most expensive film of its time. It included two spectacular scenes: the sea galley battle with pirates and the famous chariot-race. Another "swords and sandals" epic of the 1920s was "Noah's Ark" which combined title cards with spoken dialogue. The major studios produced fewer epics during the 1940s due in part to wartime scarcity of resources. After the war, some of Hollywood's highest grossing films were
Ramon Novarro contemporary, John Gilbert, as a leading man. He was popular as a swashbuckler in action roles and considered one of the great romantic lead actors of his day. Novarro appeared with Norma Shearer in "The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg" (1927) and with Joan Crawford in "Across to Singapore" (1928). He made his first talking film, starring as a singing French soldier, in "Devil-May-Care" (1929). He starred with Dorothy Janis in "The Pagan" (1929), with Greta Garbo in "Mata Hari" (1931), with Myrna Loy in "The Barbarian" (1933) and opposite Lupe Vélez in "Laughing Boy" (1934). When his contract with