on 70mm film stock. The extra 5mm of space on the film stock allowed the studio to use the new six-track stereo sound, which audiences rarely heard at the time. To make a 35mm print (the type of film stock most smaller theaters could project), a 35mm print with black borders along the top and bottom of each frame was used. When projected, the 2.76:1 aspect ratio was retained. Because the film could be adapted to the requirements of individual theaters, movie houses did not need to install special, expensive 70mm projection equipment. This allowed more theaters to show the film. Six of the 70mm lenses, each worth $100,000, were shipped to Rome for use by the production. Principal photography Wyler left the United States for Italy in April 1958, five months before post-production on Wyler's The Big Country was finished. Wyler authorized his long-time editor, Robert Swink, to edit The Big Country as he saw fit—including the shooting of a new finale, which Swink did. Wyler asked not to be contacted by United Artists over the changes to The Big Country because Ben-Hur would take all his attention, time, and energy. Swink sent him a final cut of the picture in May 1958, which Wyler endorsed. Pre-production began at Cinecittà around October 1957. The MGM Art Department produced more than 15,000 sketches and drawings of costumes, sets, props, and other items needed for the film (8,000 alone for the costumes); photostatted each item; and cross-referenced and catalogued them for use by the production design team and fabricators. More than a million props were ultimately manufactured. Construction of miniatures for the entrance of Quintus Arrius into Rome and for the sea battle were under way by the end of November 1957. MGM location scouts arrived in Rome ("yet again", according to The New York Times) to identify shooting locations in August 1957. Location shooting in Africa was actively under consideration. In mid-January 1958, MGM said that filming in North Africa (later revealed to be Libya) would begin on March 1, 1958, and that 200 camels and 2,500 horses had already been procured for the studio's use there. The production was then scheduled to move to Rome on April 1, where Andrew Marton had been hired as second unit director and 72 horses were being trained for the chariot race sequence. However, the Libyan government canceled the production's film permit for