"A PIECE OF SHOWMANSHIP"

On December 17, 1975 director William Wyler spoke at a seminar at the AFI Conservatory before an audience of Fellows. Wyler, who died in 1981, was one of the great moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age. His credits include DODSWORTH (1936), JEZEBEL (1938), WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939), THE LITTLE FOXES (1941), MRS. MINIVER (1942), THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), THE HEIRESS (1949), ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) and FUNNY GIRL (1968), and he is probably best remembered for BEN-HUR (1959). He was asked to discuss the chariot race scene.

"I should point out that the chariot race was really the work of two men: Yakima Canutt and Andrew Marton. They were the directors of the chariot race, which was a separate unit. They worked about four months doing just nine or 10 minutes of film. I couldn't spend that much time on it.

It was a fantastic set; I don't think there had been anything like it since INTOLERANCE, D.W. Griffith's picture, which I never saw. Originally the chariots were supposed to come out and stand in line, and then the race was supposed to start. I said, 'no, my God, we must take advantage of this set.'

It was my idea to make them go around once in formation. That part of it I shot, showing the set and the chariots parade around. Somebody told me, 'They never used to do this in the old Roman days.' I said, 'To hell with that. That's the way I'm going to do it.'

It was simply a piece of showmanship. It was like a musical number or an overture.

I wanted to take advantage of the production because I knew, that once the race started, we wanted to stay in the race and be alongside the chariots and the two characters. There would be no time then for long shots. To cut to a long shot at that time would drop the tension. Two hours of the story work up the enmity of these two men and work toward this climax. This is the moment you wait for, so you don't want to cut away from them.

After the race, the picture was a letdown for some people because it was no longer as exciting. But you can't have three hours of chariot races."