The Man Who Saved Ben Hur

Well I really enjoyed this documentary ... and I have seen many over the decades. This one will certainly stay in my mind and attache itself to my heart. This is more than tell a story about a Man who worked behind the scenes.. It gave me a bit more of an "entry" into how actor's of his generation were . Like for example .. Rock Hudson .. he always sent out 'Christmas " cards .. and the "Silver" cigarette box that was engraved by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. This gentleman was a walking and talking piece of history. Thank God he didn't have Alzheimer's disease ... and this gentleman who happened to be his cousin .. Just came into his life exactly at the correct time.. Can you imagine someone living in an apt and being placed in an "assisted living" facility ..?? All of his belonging's would have been tossed into the trash ...! This is a reminder that as we all one day will face old age... You may want to clean out and throw away all of your personal item's ..especially if you don't have any immediate family member's. I contacted Mr. Forte and told him how I enjoyed watching the feature ... what bothered me was the shady "LA Times". How they turned down Mr.Forte .. No wonder news paper's are going out of business ...!! They could have posted something in the obit's ..stating that he was a former film associate ..and the people he was friends with. Shared some of the picture's.. Anyway's ... I really enjoyed this ....and I would love to see some of the photographs in person at the museum's or Academy ..? This is a gem ...

For me this is the best kind of personal documentary; one in which the subject tells his/her story honestly, naturally, without any sense of pretense or grandiosity, while the filmmaker quietly observes, though with gentle nudges here and there to focus the conversation, acting as our curious proxy as we momentarily become friends with a stranger.In this film's case our subject is John Alarimo, a WW2 veteran who subsequently spent his life in Hollywood, though he's not someone even the biggest cinephile would know of -- but that's what makes this so fascinating. Johnny was the guy on set, at the parties, working and socializing with the major players during the great years of Hollywood: Heston, Burton, Taylor, et al. Now, though, as an elderly man living alone, not wealthy and with no immediate family of his own, the filmmaker (a second cousin from a different generation) takes his camera and shows us what is a most intimate of portraits: of a man reflecting on his life's journey.Johnny's someone who wants to remember because he kept every memento and carefully organized them, and yet, at the same time, we feel in watching him he wants to keep certain memories to himself. Johnny's story will appeal to movie buffs but more widely to people, like me, who also walk along the street and see someone and wonder who they are, where they're from and what they did to get to this place and point in time. This is an emotional film, to be sure, in the nakedness of Johnny reminiscing about friends long since deceased, but it's also a highly entertaining and technically well made film as all the photos, books, posters, notes and things from Johnny's extensive library are so expertly presented to us making this a wonderfully visual experience, too.There are documentaries that are made about historical, well-known events, documentaries pieced together by existing footage, essentially journalistic in nature, and then there are documentaries like this one that could only have been made by one person at one time. This is why I find this so special. It manages to straddle both the big and the small in life because Johnny lived in a glamorous world we're all fascinated by and yet we find ourselves more interested in him, of this "forgotten" man who lived behind the scenes. It isn't meant to tell every single detail of Johnny's life, to explore those dark corners and tell the gossip we tend to crave. This is just a study of a gentle, kind man who is happy to share the good (and a few bad) times. He "saved" Ben Hur and a lot more. We should all be grateful this documentary was made in time for us to give credit where it's due. The next time I watch that chariot race I'll be thinking of him. Thanks, Johnny.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this documentary. It really was done well and quite tasteful. For people of my generation, it brings us back when we were young since Johnny was the same age as my father. More importantly, he was part of the great generation that saved the world and lived a life of dignity till the end. I really fell this is an important piece of work that brings to life the story of a man forgotten by the people he helped the most and disappointing that he didn’t get recognized for the contributions he made to the movie industry.Watch it and you won’t be disappointed since in my eyes this man really was a legend that made something of himself but alas like all of us he got old and Hollywood like they do with everyone, discards them and replaces them with someone less qualified buy younger. I can’t imagine the life this man lived. The people he met, the things he did a accomplished. My hat is off to the maker of this film and my hat if off to the man himself who saved Ben Hur!

Instead of letting the stories this man had in his head about the things which were interesting to him, the filmmaker wants to know if he's gay. He gets him to admit he's sorry he didn't have kids, but people who enjoy their work often don't want to stop doing it because it fulfills them.He did not grow up with connection and intimacy, so, he gets connection and meaning out of being part of a project and team, like the military, like a film crew. It's easier, because you know it's short term. It seems so clear and easy to understand. But Johnny seems misunderstood to me.He could have had more if he had reconnected with some of those teams he had been a part of. But his mind didn't work that way. He just didn't know how to form these relationships. That's it. He was used to working. He got his life fulfillment out of being a valuable part of a project and he wanted to be seen as an agent of change in the film industry. So, he archives his level of importance. But I feel like his cousin missed the whole point and didn't connect the dots of what he actually did in the pictures. What a disappointment!

I very interesting documentary. I wonder how many people who knew Johnny Alarimo knew of all the people new had met and had relationships with over his years. Granted they were very brief but it appears that he made an impression on them to still have contact with some of them years after. It was a very bittersweet movie for me since I am almost in his age bracket and have more or less the same aging symptoms.