(Fred Niblo, US 1925, 140 min., 35mm)
The most expensive spectacle of its time, this film tells the familiar story of Judah Ben-Hur (matinee idol Ramon Novarro) in the early days of Christianity. His wealthy family is persecuted for their faith by the Romans, including Judah’s childhood friend Messala. Following an accident, Judah is sentenced to life as a galley slave and separated from his family. He seeks to find a way to escape, exact his revenge, and find his sister and mother. The massive sea battle scene and the famous chariot race are the centerpieces of this epic tale that still resonates a hundred years later.
Free admission for all.
Live piano accompaniment by Philip Carli.
35mm print from the George Eastman Museum collection.
Upcoming Events in this Series
Film Screenings | Faust (DCP)
Silent Tuesdays | Schweigen! Following Nosferatu and The Last Laugh, master expressionist F.W. Murnau hit a crest with his rendering of Goethe’s classic Faust. Emil Jannings plays the diabolical Mephistopheles, who tempts an aging alchemist with the promise of eternal youth for a small price — his everlasting soul.
Film Screenings | A Kiss for Cinderella (16mm)
Silent Tuesdays Director Herbert Brenon and star Betty Bronson reunite after Peter Pan for another adaptation of a J.M. Barrie play. Jane (Bronson) is a house slave who dreams of a Prince Charming and is nicknamed Cinderella by an artist whose studio she cleans because she always talks of the wonderful things that will one day befall her.
Film Screenings | Hamlet (35mm)
Silent Tuesdays Many silent filmmakers turned to Shakespeare for source material, transforming the Bard’s verbal poetry and drama into visual equivalents, but none more unusually than this project spearheaded by the legendary Danish actress Asta Nielsen.