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Ben-Hur (1959)

Directed by: Will Wyler

Cast: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins and Stephen Boyd

IMDb page about Ben-Hur

Studio(s): Cinecitta Studios - Sony Pictures Studios

Sony Pictures Studios: Ben-hur meets Jesus on the Calvary/shots from the Golgotha

Cinecitta Studios: The chariot race required 15,000 extras, on a set constructed on 18 acres of backlot at Cinecitta Studios outside Rome. Tour buses visited the set every hour. Eighteen chariots were built, with half being used for practice. The race took five weeks to film.

Much of the film was shot on location in Italy, around Frosinone and Folliano and the Salone Caves. Rome's Cinecitta Studios were used as a production base for around 9 months.
Exterior sets built on the backlot for the chariot race were the largest ever built at the time.

Only a small amount of the movie was shot back in Los Angeles, at the MGM Studios.