The Man Who Saved Ben-Hur

People who make movies often talk about filmmaking's ephemeral sense of community: actors, crews, producers, and a director are thrown together for a relatively brief period and often grow close, only to go separate ways when the project is over. The Man Who Saved Ben-Hur is about a life lived in filmmaking and the short-term friendships that soon become memories, leaving the subject of this documentary, assistant director John Alarimo, entirely alone at age 89. Filmmaker Joe Forte, Alarimo's second cousin, trains a camera on the man who was part of many a crew on mid-to-late 20th-century Hollywood movies, often going uncredited for his efforts in fixing all kinds of production problems. Although he lives alone, suffers from poor circulation, and is surrounded by too much memorabilia, Alarimo retains an air of elegance. Showing Forte old photographs from film sets, letters from legendary figures, and clippings from newspapers, Alarimo shares engaging tales about going on holiday with Rock Hudson (he won't reveal what might have happened), Sandra Dee's problems, and smoothing the waters more than once during the making of the 1959 epic Ben-Hur. Images of Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlton Heston, and others turn up in Alarimo's collection, but it's hard not to feel sad that Forte's courtly subject is now excited about little more than a trip to a wound care clinic and a karaoke bar. Forte's own relationship with Alarimo strengthens over the course of filming, to the point where he becomes the older man's caretaker. An interesting profile of a Hollywood insider (Alarimo passed away in 2014), this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)