had the makeup crews rig them with fake bone and blood to make it appear as if they had lost a hand or leg during the battle. When Dunning edited his own footage later, he made sure that these men were not on screen for so long that audiences would be upset. The above-decks footage was integrated with the miniature work using process shots and traveling mattes. One of the most lavish sets was the villa of Quintus Arrius, which included 45 working fountains and of pipes. Wealthy citizens and nobles of Rome, who wanted to portray their ancient selves, acted as extras in the villa scenes. 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, and various film stars visited during 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. 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. Editing A total of of footage was shot for the film. According to editor John D. Dunning, the first cut of the film was four and a half hours long. William Wyler stated that his goal was to bring the running time down to three and a half hours. The most difficult editing decisions, according to Dunning, came during scenes that involved Jesus Christ, as these contained almost no dialogue and most of the footage was purely reaction shots by actors. Dunning also believed that in the final cut the leper scene was too long and needed trimming. Editing was also complicated by the 70mm footage being printed. Because no editing equipment