
The Children of the New Forest
David Stuart Davies looks at a classic children's story set in the time of the English Civil War.
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May
12
Jun
09
While the novel, Ben Hur:
A Tale of Christ, has been called ‘the most influential Christian book of
the nineteenth century’, it is now mainly remembered by modern readers because
of the celebrated 1959 movie starring Charlton Heston. However, by contrast the
author, Lew Wallace (1827 – 1905), is one of the forgotten American scribes. Wallace
was a remarkable individual who wore many hats in his lifetime: he was a lawyer, a Union general in the American civil war, governor of New Mexico, a politician,
and diplomat as well as finding time to write books.
Ben Hur, published in 1880, was partly
inspired by Wallace’s love of romantic novels including those written by Sir
Walter Scott and Alexandre Dumas. However, the mainspring for his biblical epic
came from a conversation he had with fellow soldier, Colonel Roger G. Ingersoll,
a well-known agnostic. The two men debated religious ideology and Wallace came
to realise how little he knew about the history of Christ and this prompted him
to carry out research to find out more. His studies inspired him to create a
novel around the life of Jesus. However, Wallace was well aware that the
Christian world would not tolerate a novel with Jesus Christ as its hero. In
his memoirs he stated that he knew that Jesus, ‘should not be present as an
actor in any scene of my creation. I would be religiously careful that every
word stated should be a literal quotation from one of his sainted biographers.’
And so he began to weave an exciting
tale set at the time of Jesus in which he makes occasional ‘guest appearances’.
On publication this original blend of biblical scenes and figures from The New
Testament with Wallace’s fiction was a great popular success.
The story concerns Judah
Ben-Hur, head of a rich Jewish family who is arrested after being accused by
his former friend Masala of attempting to assassinate the new governor of
Jerusalem. Rather like Dumas’ character the Count of Monte Cristo, Ben Hur’s fate
ensures that he loses everything. He is sentenced to a life at the galleys on a
slave ship, his fortune is confiscated, his mother and young sister, Tirzah, are
walled up in a forgotten prison cell where they contract leprosy. The novel
concerns Ben Hur’s escape during an exciting chariot race, his revenge on
Masala before beginning his search for his mother and sister and their
miraculous cure by Jesus Christ.
One of the most
impressive aspects of the novel is the power of Wallace’s story telling and his
ability in clear, fresh unfussy prose to bring a vivid immediacy to the
narrative. There is none of the verbose stuffiness that one finds in some
Victorian novels. Here there is a vibrancy of style that was well ahead of its
time. Wallace’s research into his subject ensures that he captures the ethos, customs
and essence of this period of the ancient world.
It is said that Wallace
copied the final manuscript of the novel in purple ink as a tribute to the
Christian season of Lent before presenting it to the publishers Harper and
Brothers. At the time the idea of portraying Christ and the crucifixion in a
fictional novel was a sensitive one. Wallace’s depiction could have been
considered by some as blasphemy but the quality of the manuscript and his
assurance that he had not intended to offend Christians, allayed the publishers’
reservations. Indeed, Harper and Brothers stated that ‘it was the most beautiful
manuscript that has ever come into this house.’
Remarkably the novel’s initial
success led to its popularity as a promotional tool and a prototype for popular
cultural merchandising. And soon there were Ben Hur toiletries, bicycles,
cigars, clocks and hair products.
The novel became so
popular that towards the end of the 19th century there was a demand for it to
be adapted for the stage but Wallace resisted, arguing that no one could appear
as Christ on stage. However, he eventually relented and it the play opened on
Broadway in 1899 with Jesus Christ being portrayed by a bright beam of light.
As early as 1907 there
was a film version of the novel and since then there have been numerous movies bringing
this visually exciting tale to the screen. The 1927 silent feature, starring
Ramon Navarro, is remarkably spectacular. The chariot race, filmed without the
aid of special effects, is still amazingly thrilling when viewed today. So
prestigious a production was this movie that many of the great stars of
Hollywood agreed to appear as extras in crowd scenes; these included John
Barrymore, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Joan Crawford, Harold Lloyd and
Myrna Loy amongst others.
It wasn’t until 1959 that
Hollywood returned to the novel to present a widescreen colour version of the Wallace’s
epic. Charlton Heston took on the title role, after such stars as Kirk Douglas,
Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster and Paul Newman had turned it down. It was still
considered controversial to portray Christ on screen and some considered that appearing
in such a movie could damage their career. The film was a great box office and
artistic success, winning an unprecedented eleven Oscars. It was directed by
William Wyler although the chariot race was actually filmed by second unit
directors Andrew Martin and Yakimo Canutt and it took three months to complete shooting
this sequence.
In more recent times
there was an animated direct-to-video version in 2003 featuring the voice of
Charlton Heston and in 2009 there was even a spectacular stage presentation at
the O2 Arena in London, which included a sea battle, gladiatorial combat and
the chariot race. A new movie, a ‘a reimagining’ of the original novel, was
released by MGM in 2016 with Jack Huston as the hero. In general, the critics
gave it the thumbs down, comparing it unfavourably with the 1959 film.
It is true to say that no matter how successful or otherwise the various screen versions of Ben Hur are, they inevitably fail to capture the full power of this long novel, which in the process of adaptation requires the editing of some elements of the plot. In order to enjoy the full spread and vivid viewpoint of Lew Wallace’s story one must return to the book.
Image: Still from the 1959 film of
Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo