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Origins of An Image

Some epic stories and films leave
memories of monumental action, any
one of which can become the sales
image on a cover or film poster.
The story of Ben Hur and the two
films made from it, have classic action
sequences both on land and sea. The
epic scale of the action offers many
choices for a main image.
Yet in both film versions it has been
images of frenzied horses which have
captured the imagination and rightly
become the focus of the poster art.
Part of the poster by Eileen Farquar
for the 1925 version - the film and
poster re-issued in 1933 with some
colour and sound sequences - is shown
at the top of the page.
Joseph J. Smith’s work for the 1960
version (the complete poster is on page
18) is shown below.
Editor John M. Stevens in an issue
of the Miklos Rozsa’s Appreciation
Music Society, has passed on an
observation by one keen-eyed reader.
The inspiration for at least one
horse in the 1960 poster (and by
extension the earlier one too) is likely
to be a painting by Frederic Remington
(1861-1909), the artist who
mythologised the American West. This
picture is also shown.
In dozens of canvases Remington
depicted horses in flight from
marauding Indians, or stampeding
cattle, or rearing up buckjumping;
images perfect for Hollywood. Indeed
any survey of Remington’s output will
show that his images became a major Left: A typical, all-action
influence on directors who specialised painting by Frederic
in westerns. Remington.
Back to Ben Hur. Apart from some The front horse, left, is
over-emphasis on the cloak in the older identical to the horse,
poster, which detracts a bit - the tighter right, in the 1960 poster
formation of the horses, the open and is similar to the
mouths of the suffering animals, middle horse in the 1925
maddened by the pull on the bit version.
between their teeth - seems more
pagan, more authentic.
What do you think?

32 2007 CINEMARECORD