Happy 50th, "Ben-Hur"
BEN-HUR
50th Anniversary — The Roadshow Engagements
Compiled by Michael Coate
Commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 1959 production of “Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ,” I would like to present a list of the award-winning film’s original North American roadshow engagements.
The list, created for the sake of nostalgia and historical record, is noteworthy as it represents a breakdown of the first theaters anywhere to have played the film, and, as far as I know, such a list has never before been published. In addition, this (work-in-progress) article is a celebration of the fondly-remembered “Cinema Treasures” in which the film played as much as it is a celebration of the classic film.
The bookings are listed chronologically by premiere date. Duration data has been included for selected entries, many of which are/were a record for a given market or theater.
