Continuity mistake: Ben-Hur places his crown on a table when he visits the fallen Messala, but upon returning the table and crown are gone. (00:36:35)
Continuity mistake: Judah Ben-Hur removes the large ring he had received from Arrius and gives it to Pontius Pilate to return to Arrius. Following this, he returns to the leper colony with Esther, and he reunites with Miriam. When Judah is told Tirzah is dying, as Judah searches the cave for Tirzah, he is once again wearing the large ring he had received from Arrius, on his right index finger. Then, that ring vanishes when he finds Tirzah.
Continuity mistake: During the race, when Ben Hur is about to defeat Messala, his opponent's wheel disintegrates. However, as the chariot flips over, we see a complete wheel on both sides. (00:28:20)
Continuity mistake: When Judah goes to the place where the leper lives, a man tells him it's a cursed place and puts a lettuce or a cabbage on a plate. It has disappeared the shot later.
Continuity mistake: Count the number of chariots that start the race. Then count the chariots that get thrown out and the number that finish - there's one too many. There are 9 at the start, 6 get thrown out, and 4 finish.
Continuity mistake: When Judah takes rest on his way to Jerusalem funny things happen with his headgear. First, when he lies down it suddenly disappears under his head. Then he falls asleep, and when Balthasar from Alexandria approaches him a little later and he quickly gets up there is nothing under his head and back. (01:38:00)
Continuity mistake: One of the first shots in the picture is a wide angle establishing shot showing a street scene in Jerusalem, with milling people, animals, etc. A tall figure in the background is slowly walking toward the camera. The figure is Charlton Heston, and the shot is an earlier segment of a shot used later in the movie when Ben-Hur is returning home from a trade expedition. Heston's costume is the same, but he's only clearly recognizable in the second sequence. Since the two scenes are set 33 years apart, perhaps the earlier figure is Ben-Hur's father. (00:07:40)
Continuity mistake: When Judah comes back to his house and meets Esther, the curls over her forehead change several times throughout the scene. (00:52:00)
Continuity mistake: During Ben Hur and Messala's duel on the chariots, Messala's wheel-scythes tear away most of the right hand side of Ben Hur's chariot. When Messala has been thrown and Ben Hur crosses the finish line a few moments later, however, the camera has zoomed out far enough to reveal that his chariot is perfectly intact.
Continuity mistake: Right before the chariot race, when Sheik Ilderim is standing at Judah's right side and tells Judah, "Be careful, don't let him near you," Judah places his hand on the Sheik's forearm as the fanfare starts. Then it cuts to a long shot, with the Sheik now suddenly on Judah's left side, and Judah removing his hand from the Sheik's forearm.
Suggested correction: The sheik actually moves around the chariot to the right side. No continuity error.
You can't assume that the sheik moves. It's not shown and the shots are so quick in succession the sheik didn't have time to move.
Oh, but actually, there is indeed a continuity error, and it occurs between shots. Sheik Ilderim is standing on one side of the chariot, then in the very next shot he is standing on the other side of the chariot. The suggested correction is wrong.
Continuity mistake: When Arrius makes the galley do a practice race and finally allows them to rest the oars are going up and down from the waves. However, when the camera is close on Judah the oars are perfectly still. (01:10:55)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the chariot race, a heavily bloodsoaked Messala is taken to receive medical treatment. While something is done to his legs out of shot (amputation, presumably) an orderly in a clean white tunic leans his whole body weight on Messala to hold him down on the bed as he writhes in agony. When the orderly stands up, we see that his tunic is still spotlessly white.
Continuity mistake: When the baskets are being loaded to be lowered into the Valley of the Lepers, someone loads two heads of lettuce onto a basket. Just as the basket is being lowered, someone else throws in three more heads. When the basket hits the bottom, there are only three heads of lettuce.
Continuity mistake: When the Sheik is taking down the bets, his man, who handed him the book, is standing behind him with his hands down. When the camera angle changes, his hands are folded. (00:07:45)
Continuity mistake: At the very end, the scaffold that was used to erect the crosses vanishes between shots.
Continuity mistake: Ben Hur's horses change position. When the chariots are preparing for the race and at the starting line, the horse with the pink nose is third from the left, but at the end of the race, the pink-nosed horse is fourth from the right.
Continuity mistake: At one time during the chariot race Judah and Messala are going side by side. Then Judah steers his horses against the inner wall and almost comes to a complete halt. However, an instant later he is abreast with Messala again. (00:26:00)
Continuity mistake: During the scene when Ben-Hur meets his servant, Simonides, he removes his turban, and his hair is flat and sweaty. The shot pans to his mother, and when it cuts back, his hair is dry and combed.
Continuity mistake: In the parade of chariots before the race, the riders are shown circling the track once before making their way to the starting line. As they emerge from the stables, the horses and chariots leave very noticeable tracks on the ground so you can trace their progress around the track. The riders head down the right side of the track (from the perspective of the stables) then make the wide turn to head down the backstretch, and then make the wide turn back onto the right side of the track where they started. The film then cuts to a wide shot of the riders heading back down the right side of the track for the second time, but the track ahead of them and all the way down the backstretch is now clean of any tracks. It's clear this shot comes from when the riders first emerged from the stables. The riders then stop on the starting line on the backstretch, which means they were either transported to the other side of the track without making a third turn, or they did 1 lap around the track in the space of 1 and a half laps.
Continuity mistake: During the crucifixion, look at Jesus' hands, there are three clear shots of this. In the first shot you plainly see his blood from his hands on the cross. In the second shot, the blood is gone from the cross. In the third shot, it's back.
Suggested correction: Ben Hur got the ring from Arrius, not from the Emperor. When he goes to the leper colony the first time he is still wearing the ring. Later he gives the ring to Pontius Pilate to return it to Arrius. Then, when he goes to the leper colony the second time he is not wearing the ring anymore.
NancyFelix
Aside from changing the mistake's wording to Arrius, the mistake is indeed correct. Rewatch the scenes. Judah Ben-Hur takes off the large ring he had received from Arrius and gives it to Pontius Pilate to return to Arrius. After that scene, he meets with Esther, and they both return to the leper colony. Judah speaks with Miriam, his mother, and he's told Tirzah is dying. Then, as Judah begins to search the cave for Tirzah, Judah is now wearing the large ring he had received from Arrius, on his right index finger. That ring vanishes when he finds Tirzah. The mistake is quite valid.
Super Grover ★