That's a legit assessment, though I didn't feel as if De Laurentiis had in fact preserved the mythology. Again: far more time would have been required. Check

That's a legit assessment, though I didn't feel as if De Laurentiis had in fact preserved the mythology. Again: far more time would have been required. Checking, it appears that among the longest-running mainstream films of all time were Cleopatra (243 minutes, or 4h8m), Gone With the Wind (238 minutes, or 3h58m), Lawrence of Arabia (222 minutes), and Ben Hur (217 minutes). Gandhi, which I recall being remarkable at the time and including an intermission, ran only 191 minutes, or 3h11m. The full Lord of the Rings trilogy runs 9h17m. <https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/the-top-15-longest-hollywood-movies/ https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/the-top-15-longest-holly...>