In 1997, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

Mary is pregnant and, as labor begins, they settle in a nearby cave where a baby is born in Bethlehem among the shepherds and visited by the Magi.

Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish man, returns from Antioch and reconnects with his Roman childhood friend, Messala.

Valerius Gratus, the new Roman governor of Judea, and his procession enter the city, as Judah and Tirzah watch from the upper terrace.

Once aboard ship, his attitude of defiance and strength impresses a Roman admiral, Quintus Arrius, who allows him to remain unchained.

Before the chariot race, Ben-Hur and Messala confront each other, in which Judah wages fifty-thousand pieces of gold if he wins.

Balthazar informs the legion armies of Jesus's death and disperses them, telling them to forgive their enemies and love one another.

Main Some notable crowd extras during chariot race Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ had been a great success as a novel, and was adapted into a stage play which ran for twenty-five years.

Erlanger was persuaded to accept a generous profit participation deal and total approval over every detail of the production.

[8] Romain de Tirtoff, better known under the pseudonym Erté, was one of the most highly sought over costume and production designers in the world.

[12] Film historian and critic Kevin Brownlow has described the race sequence as "breathtakingly exciting, and as creative a piece of cinema as the Odessa Steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin", the Soviet film also released in 1925, directed by Sergei Eisenstein who introduced many modern concepts of editing and montage composition to motion-picture production.

[8] The studio's publicity department was relentless in promoting the film, advertising it with lines like: "The Picture Every Christian Ought to See!"

Despite the large revenues, its huge expenses and the deal with Erlanger made it a net financial loss for MGM.

"The screen has yet to reveal anything more exquisitely moving than the scenes at Bethlehem, the blazing of the star in the heavens, the shepherds and the Wise Men watching.

[17][18] The film was re-released in 1931 with an added musical score, by the original composers William Axt and David Mendoza, and sound effects.

A reported one hundred horses were tripped and killed merely to produce the set piece footage of the major chariot race.

[20] The movie was banned in the 1930s in China under the category of "superstitious films" due to its religious subject matter involving gods and deities.

Current prints of the 1925 version are from the Turner-supervised restoration which includes the color tints and Technicolor sections set to resemble the original theatrical release.