Word: m
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...M-G-M). "My God!" gasped Major General Lew Wallace. "Did I set all this in motion?" In 1899, the hard-riding, hard-writing Civil War commander was already appalled by the smashing success of his first historical novel, Ben-Hur, which in 19 years had sold 400,000 copies. And that, though the general did not live to see it, was only the beginning. By 1920, a stage version of the general's work had been running 21 years, had been seen by 20 million fans, had grossed $10 million. In 1926, M-G-M turned it into...
Last week, after five years of preparation, 6½ months of shooting in Italy, nine months of editing in Hollywood, and a massive publicity campaign, M-G-M displayed a new version of Ben-Hur that is far and away the most expensive movie ever made-it cost $15 million to produce, $1,500,000 more than The Ten Commandments-and also one of the longest-3 hr. 37 min., not including a 15-minute intermission. Only Gone With the Wind (3 hr. 42 min.) and The Ten Commandments (3 hr. 39 min.) ran longer...
...failures. The movie hero is pretty much an overgrown boy scout who never experiences the moral struggles that beset the hero of the book. Then, too, the story sometimes lags-not, oddly enough, because it is too long but because it is too short. For the final script, M-G-M eliminated an entire subplot that gives the middle of the story its shape and suspense. But the religious theme is handled with rare restraint and good taste. The face of Christ is never fully revealed. The Sermon on the Mount, The Trial. The Ascent of Calvary and The Crucifixion...
...belongs to Wyler. His wit, intelligence and formal instinct are almost everywhere in evidence, and he has set a standard of excellence by which coming generations of screen spectacles can expect to be measured. His virtues have been agreeably rewarded. Friends report that his percentage-of-profits deal with M-G-M will put him on easy street for the rest of his life. But it is probable that MGM, which was in a shaky financial spot when the project was launched, will not have any trouble keeping up the payments. Ben-Hur has run up the biggest advance sale...
Harvard's President Nathan M. Pusey called it "misguided, discriminatory, superfluous, ineffective, futile." Yale's President A. Whitney Griswold forcefully agreed; so did Oberlin College's President William E. Stevenson. Object of their ire: the "disclaimer affidavit" in the loyalty provision of the federal Student Loan Program. Last week, joining at least 13 other colleges and universities, Harvard, Yale and Oberlin quit the loan program. Between them, they turned back about $476,000 in federal funds...