1907 Ben Hur

The new 4 disc box-set of Ben Hur includes the full version of the 1925 version, but it also includes a few snippets from the 1907 version. It's kind of a shame that they didn't include all of this film too, at 15 minutes long it would hardly have stretched the potential of the 4 DVDs.

Still it's great to have even this, and as it's there as part of a documentary you get some useful background information as well. One such random fact is that this version, the original I suppose, didn't stage it's own chariot race, as the 2 later re-makes would do. Instead they took a camera down to an annual chariot race competition and recorded part of that.

The 1907 version is best known as the film that shaped movie copyright laws. Kalem failed to gain permission from the Wallace estate, and, as a result, were sued for $25,000 for copyright infringement. This groundbreaking case set a precedent for all future adaptations.

It's also noteworthy for being directed by Sidney Olcott who would return to the tale of Christ 5 years later to shoot From the Manager to the Cross. There's more information about this film at Wikipedia

Matt

N.B. - This post was back-dated to when it first occurred - i.e. it's not a true blog post!

First Few Episodes of The Living Christ Series

Since The Living Christ Series is about 6 hours long, and comes in half hour episodes, I'm going to post my thoughts a few episodes at a time, rather than wait until I've waded through the whole thing and publish a mega-post listing all my thoughts on the series in one go.

I decided to save the birth narratives from the start. I rarely get much out of them in the various films, and this one looked like it might be incredibly kitsch, so I'll come back to those later. First the contents (Bible references are only a guide - where an episode exists in two or all of the synoptics I'll tend to cite it from Mark even if the filmed version actually corresponds more closely with Matthew or Luke):

Episode 4
Temptation (Matt 4:1-11)
Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit (Mark 1:21-28)
*Peter's Mother in Law Healed (Matt 8:14-15)
†Healing of a Lame Girl (No specific passage)

Episode 5
Calling of the 12 (Mark 3:13-17)
Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12)
Salt and Light (Matt 5:13-16)
Satan Cannot Cast out Satan (Mark 3:20-30)
Prayer like a Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:5-8)
Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1-4)

Episode 6
Turn the Other Cheek (Matt 5:38-42)
Love your Enemies (Matt 5:43-47)
Question from John the Baptist (Matt 1:1-5)
Widow of Nain's Son (Luke 7:11-17)
Calling of Matthew (Mark 2:13-17)
Healing of a Paralytic (Mark 2:1-12)

Episode 7
Centurion's Servant (Matt 8:5-13)
Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11)
Gospel Manifesto (Luke 4:18-19)
Nicodemus Visits Jesus (John 3:1-21)
Woman of Samaria (John 4:4-29)
Light on a Stand (Mark 4:21-22)
Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

A few thoughts:
*In my original notes I had bracketed this event, and I can't remember how this episode was depicted. This is a shame as this event is rarely shown in Jesus films. In fact off the top of my head I can't think of another one that does.

†Scipture only recalls the healing of one lame person specifically; the man that was healed in the pool of Bethsaida, and even then it is unclear whether he was simply lame or closer to paralysed. It also only records the healing of one girl - Jairus's daughter (Mark 5:21-43). However, the gospels note Jesus healing "the lame" (in general) a number of times, and several films have used this to invent a specific healing story, (for example the Roger Young's Jesus mini-series).

It's interesting how episodes 4-6 are solely based on the synoptics, whereas episode 7 is largely John. In particular the wedding at Cana is usually thought to be the start of Jesus's ministry (due to Jesus saying his time has not yet come in John 2:4), but here it appears more than halfway through. I know many people were impressed at how Jesus of Nazareth blended John's gospel with the synoptics, but introducing events specific to John later in the story so that Jesus' secrecy over his identity was no contradictory so much as sequential. That film missed out the wedding at Cana althogether though.

Finally the Widow of Nain's son is another largely ignored miracle, only From the Manager to the Cross and the 1979 Jesus film cover this. Jairus' daughter is far more popular, possibly as it's a rare opportunity to bring a girl into the action (the only two people called a "girl" in the gospels discuss are Jairus's daughter and Salome). The raising of Lazarus occurs in most Jesus films, and usually functions as a turning point in the action,

Matt

N.B. - This post was back-dated to when it first occurred - i.e. it's not a true blog post!