In our tours of the Study, we often mention the mechanism that allowed the chariots to race on stage with eight horses galloping at full speed. This was an amazing feat for a stage production in the first decade of the 20th century. In addition, other aspects of the Broadway […]
Ben-Hur
33 posts
In the mid-1930s, Josiah K. Lilly, Jr., noted Indianapolis philanthropist and partner in the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical business, acquired papers and memorabilia significant in Indiana history. He purchased the original manuscript of Ben-Hur, hand-written in purple ink by Lew Wallace, from the author’s grandson, Lew Wallace, Jr. Mystery of the […]
At least eight important sculptors (not counting the General himself) have contributed to the artistry of the General Lew Wallace Study. Inside the building reside a bust of Wallace created by Randolph Rogers, a statue of Ben-Hur the galley slave done by George Peterson in 1888, and two plaster studies […]
In March of 1901, Klaw and Erlanger announced their arrangement with Arthur Collins, the director of London’s Drury Lane Theater, to take the play to England. Collins had travelled to New York to stage a play, but also to secure the rights to Ben-Hur. Ben Teal and A.L. Erlanger were to […]
The play Ben-Hur opened on Broadway in 1899. Edward Morgan took the stage as Ben-Hur and William S. Hart portrayed Messala. Lew Wallace attended the opening night performance at the Broadway Theater and, like the rest of the audience, was pleased with the dramatic presentation of his work. An opening […]
Of all of the many products, places, and institutions to carry the name Ben-Hur, perhaps none was more successful than the Tribe of Ben-Hur. Lew Wallace never belonged to this fraternal benefit organization, but he gave the enterprise his blessing in the early 1890s. He was also close friends with […]
At almost four million dollars, the 1925 silent film of Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur is the most expensive silent movie ever made. Expenses for the movie began in 1919, with MGM’s initial negotiations with Henry Wallace. They also had to negotiate with Abraham Erlanger, producer of the successful stage play. Eventually, […]
In his autobiography (My Life East and West), William S. Hart (Messala) related some of his memories of the stage production of Ben-Hur. Hart remembered that at one of the final rehearsals prior to the opening of the show, Charles Frohman, a renowned actor at the turn of the century […]
“So Ben-Hur was the Twilight of the 1800s.” Out of the mouths of babes – an eighth-grader on a recent school visit made a striking connection between the popularity of Lew Wallace’s masterwork and the rise of new novels made into films. One aspect of the Ben-Hur legacy is merchandising […]
Writers, producers, and attorneys all over Hollywood and New York should wake up every day thanking Lew Wallace. A lawsuit involving Ben-Hur set precedent for many copyright cases over the past century. As many of you know, after Lew Wallace wrote Ben-Hur, Harper Brothers published it. Late in his life, […]