Stephen Boyd as Messala Dagger in 'Ben Hur'

Dagger of gold-plated brass mountings, ivory composition ribbed grip set with faux pearls, rubies and emeralds, nickel plated brass retractable blade.

Screen World, 1960, Daniel Blum, Biblo & Tannen, pg. 113.

The film received the academy for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith), Best Director (William Wyler), Best Cinematography, Best Set Direction-Color, Best Costumes-Color, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Special Effects and Best Music and nominated for Best Writing.

The dagger was specially crafted in Italy for MGM's production and subsequently purchased at the studio's auction in 1970 [Lot # 58670A].

The dagger was used in one of the earlier scenes in the film between Ben Hur and Messala. Controversy later arose between screen writer Gore Vidal and Charlton Heston about the hidden subtext behind these scenes. According to Vidal, he had convinced Stephen Boyd and director William Wyler to add a deeper gay relationship- gone wrong- between the two characters to explain Messala’s hatred towards his friend. It was decided not to tell conservative Heston about their decisions, but Stephen Boyd played the scenes with this subtext in mind.