Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925 film) Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925 film) Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a 1925 American silent epic adventure-drama film directed by Fred Niblo and written by June Mathis based on the 1880 novel "" by General Lew Wallace. Starring Ramon Novarro as the title character, the film is the first feature-length adaptation of the novel and second overall, following the 1907 short. In 1997, "Ben-Hur" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Ben-Hur is a wealthy young Jewish prince and boyhood
Ramon Novarro MGM Studios expired in 1935 and the studio did not renew it, Novarro continued to act sporadically, appearing in films for Republic Pictures, a Mexican religious drama, and a French comedy. In the 1940s, he had several small roles in American films, including "We Were Strangers" (1949), directed by John Huston and starring Jennifer Jones and John Garfield. In 1958, he was considered for a role in the television series "The Green Peacock", with Howard Duff and Ida Lupino, after their CBS Television sitcom "Mr. Adams and Eve" (1957–58). The project, however, never materialized. A Broadway tryout was aborted in