tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6101323083942087536.post6278778328933065023..comments2022-03-25T16:39:12.426-04:00Comments on Spellbound Cinema: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)Apronikoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17782118211575759239noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6101323083942087536.post-57513268062085718482011-12-21T11:02:57.620-05:002011-12-21T11:02:57.620-05:00Yeah, as much as my co-author and I differ in our ...Yeah, as much as my co-author and I differ in our taste in films, we can always agree on our appreciation of any movie whose notion of how to film a sea battle means, 'let's build some ships and shoot cannons at them.' <br /><br />Ramon Novarro is wonderful in this (as always). It just makes me sick to read about how he was pushed out of movies in the 30s--especially since he had such a lovely voice, and filmed so well in sound films. I caught him on TCM a few months ago in a pre-code operetta with Jeannette MacDonald that was just wonderful--The Cat and the Fiddle. I wish his sound films were a bit easier to find!Allex Crumbleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18282228884334195584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6101323083942087536.post-29871128280368051592011-12-20T20:37:10.903-05:002011-12-20T20:37:10.903-05:00Having just watched the 1925 "Ben-Hur", ...Having just watched the 1925 "Ben-Hur", my jaw dropping lower and lower, I fully appreciate the glory that was silent cinema at its zenith. The sea battle is way better than in the 1959 version, and the ground-level shots of the chariots streaking overhead must have been incredible on the big screen. Real extras, not CGI people! I love the 1959 version, which has a powerful emotional tug (I always cry when Christ offers water to Judah and vice-versa later on) and more graphic violence. Nothing being made today in movies is better or more sophisticated than the two "Ben-Hur"s, and I hate the strobe effects in the action scenes in "Gladiator" and other films. Long live silent cinema! And long live Ramon Novarro, whose name inspired my mother when I was born!Ramon Vanderlindennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6101323083942087536.post-57365230349488996652011-06-02T09:24:29.638-04:002011-06-02T09:24:29.638-04:00Excellent look at this one, Allex. Thanks.Excellent look at this one, Allex. Thanks.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.com