The Fall of Troy / Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Tuesday | July 31, 2007 7:00 pm

The Fall of Troy

Directed by Giovanni Pastrone and Luigi Romano Borgnetto

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Directed by Fred Niblo

Screening on Film

Italian director Giovanni Pastrone gained international renown for such lavish historical epics as Cabiria. Using a series of tableaux, Pastrone offers a more sparse vision of the Trojan War in The Fall of Troy. Although not as lavish (and expensive) as its more well known 1959 remake, Fred Niblo’s Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ was one of the most costly productions of the silent era and elevated screen idol Ramon Navarro to legendary status. Niblo shows the influence of his Italian forebears in many of the films more extravagant sequences, most notably the oft-cited (and imitated) chariot race.

PROGRAM

The Fall of Troy

Directed by Giovanni Pastrone and Luigi Romano Borgnetto.
With Luigi Romano Borgnetto, Giovanni Casaleggio, Madame Davesnes.
Italy, 1910, 16mm, black & white, silent, 19 min.
Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Directed by Fred Niblo.
With Ramon Navarro, Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy.
US, 1925, 35mm, black & white, silent, 128 min.
With music track