Filming ‘Ben-Hur’ in Mussolini’s Italy

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It’s a sad failing of silent film history that there isn’t more documentation of events in Italy during MGM’s first location shoot of “Ben-Hur.” Judging from the little that survives in memoirs, budget sheets, studio memos, and in a smattering … Continued

Unionizing Hollywood: ‘Ben-Hur’ and the Un-silencing of Labor in 1926

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The history of labor relations in the motion picture industry throughout the silent film era is still not widely known — and for good reason. It was the one subject that Hollywood itself sought to suppress.   This greater silence … Continued

Re-inventing Antioch

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In 1925, Joseph M. Newman walked wide-eyed onto the most important movie set in Hollywood  history. The 16-year-old newcomer from Utah had been hired as an office boy by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. But on that Saturday morning of October 17 he reported … Continued