citizens of Rome, who wanted to portray their ancient selves, acted as extras in the villa scenes. Among them were the Countess Nona Medici, Count Marigliano del Monte, Count Mario Rivoltella, Prince Emanuele Ruspoli and Prince Raimondo Ruspoli of Italy, the Princess Carmen de Hohenlohe, Prince Cristian Hohenlohe and Count Santiago Oneto of Spain, Baroness Lillian de Balzo of Hungary, and Princess Irina Wassilchikoff (Russia). To recreate the ancient city streets of Jerusalem, a vast set covering was built, which included a high Joppa Gate. The sets were so vast and visually exciting that they became a tourist attraction. Tour buses visited the site hourly, and entertainers such as Harry Belafonte, Kirk Douglas, Susan Hayward, Audrey Hepburn, and Jack Palance traveled to Italy to see the production. The huge sets could be seen from the outskirts of Rome, and MGM estimated that more than 5,000 people were given tours of the sets. Another 25,000 tourists stopped by the studios to see the production in progress. The New York Times reported that thousands more viewed the sets without entering the grounds. Dismantling the sets cost $125,000. Almost all the filmmaking equipment was turned over to the Italian government, which sold and exported it. MGM turned title to the artificial lake over to Cinecittà. MGM retained control over the costumes and the artificial lake background, which went back to the United States. The chariots were also returned to the U.S., where they were used as promotional props. The life-size galleys and pirate ships were dismantled to prevent them from being used by competing studios. Some of the horses were adopted by the men who trained them, while others were sold. Many of the camels, donkeys, and other exotic animals were sold to circuses and zoos in Europe. Post-production Editing According to editor John D. Dunning, the first cut of the film was four and one-half hours long (although a mass media report in March 1959 indicated the running time was closer to five hours). A total of was shot for the film. William Wyler said his goal was to bring the running time down to three and a half hours. Editors Dunning and Winters saw their job as condensing the picture without losing any information or emotional impact. Dunning later said that he felt some of the leper colony sequence could have been cut. The most difficult editing decisions, he also said,