religious reasons on March 11, 1958, just a week before filming was to have begun. It is unclear whether any second unit filming took place in Israel. A June 8, 1958, reported in The New York Times said Marton had roamed "up and down the countryside" filming footage. However, the American Film Institute claims the filming permit was revoked in Israel for religious reasons as well (although when is not clear), and no footage from the planned location shooting near Jerusalem appeared in the film. Principal photography began in Rome on May 18, 1958. The script was still unfinished when cinematography began, so that Wyler had only read the first 10 to 12 pages of it. Shooting lasted for 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week. On Sundays, Wyler would meet with Fry and Zimbalist for story conferences. The pace of the film was so grueling that a doctor was brought onto the set to give a vitamin B complex injection to anyone who requested it (shots which Wyler and his family later suspected may have contained amphetamines). Wyler was unhappy with Heston's performances, feeling they did not make Judah Ben-Hur a plausible character. Wyler shot 16 takes of Heston saying, "I'm a Jew!" By November 1958, the production was becoming bogged down. In part, this was due to the extras. More than 85 percent of the extras had no telephone and no permanent address, so contacting them required using word-of-mouth. It could take several days before all the extras were informed they would be needed. An experienced extra was put in charge of about 30 inexperienced extras, moving them in and out of make-up and wardrobe. On days when there were thousands of extras, individuals would begin getting into costume at 5 A.M., while the last extras would get out of costume around 10 P.M. To speed things up, Wyler often kept principal actors on stand-by, in full costume and make-up, so that he could shoot pick-up scenes if the first unit slowed down. Actresses Martha Scott and Cathy O'Donnell spent almost the entire month of November 1958 in full leprosy make-up and costumes so that Wyler could shoot "leper scenes" when other shots didn't go well. Shooting took nine months, which included three months for the chariot race scene alone. Principal photography ended on January 7, 1959, with filming of the crucifixion scene. The sequence