Charlton Heston’s Diaries, Photos Appear on New ‘Ben-Hur’ Discs

14 Sep, 2011 By: Billy Gil

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Filmmaker Fraser Heston, son of the late actor Charlton Heston, Sept. 12 spoke of opening up home movies, pictures and his father’s diary for the new Sept. 27 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition release of Ben-Hur, which underwent a $1 million restoration by Warner Home Video.

“Jeff Baker, of [Warner Home Video], approached me and [asked if I had] any footage or old photographs that they could use in a documentary of my father’s experience making Ben-Hur. I said, ‘Boy, have you come to the right place at the right time,’” Heston said.

He had recently cut 20 minutes together of 16mm film that his mother, Lydia, a photographer, had shot of the family in Italy while the film was being made.

“It’s marvelous stuff,” Heston said. “… We didn’t know it was there until a couple of years ago. So we found this footage that shows what our life was like, both on the set, behind the scenes and at home, in this marvelous villa that we rented outside Rome.”

Warner incorporated the footage into the documentary Charlton Heston & Ben-Hur: A Personal Journey, which gives unprecedented access to the actor. Additionally, the actor’s diaries from making the film were used to produce “Charlton Heston: The Ben-Hur Diaries,” a book that reproduces Heston’s actual journal entries from 1958 through 1960 while the film was being made, released and celebrated at the Oscars, along with sketches the actor drew and personal photos of the family.

The three-disc Blu-ray edition is listed at $64.99 and includes those featurettes, plus commentary by film historian T. Gene Hatcher, with scene-specific commentary from Charlton Heston; a music-only track; the 1925 silent version of the film; the 2005 documentary Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema; the 1994 documentary Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic; and “Ben-Hur: A Journey Through Pictures,” an audiovisual recreation of the film with stills, storyboards, sketches, music and dialogue; plus screen tests, a vintage newsreel gallery and more. A five-DVD version ($49.92) has the same special features, while a two-DVD special edition ($20.97) has the restored film with commentary, plus a mail-in offer for a special-edition poster.

William Wyler’s 1959 epic, which won 11 Oscars (still the record, tied with Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), tells of a Jewish merchant (played by Charlton Heston) during the time of Jesus Christ who is wrongfully imprisoned and seeks revenge once he wins his freedom. The film is renowned for its exciting chariot race scenes and for the influential scope of the film.

Fraser Heston said his father would be “thrilled” to see how good Warner’s restoration of Ben-Hur looks.

“It looks to me like you could step into the screen and start talking to the actors and jump into a chariot and gallop off,” Heston said.
 

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