Ben hur red sports car

Tonight sees our Twitter DVD Club tackle the might of Judah Ben-Hur, in the struktur of William Wyler's classic adaptation.

Go here to find out how to get involved and watch the spelfilm with us at 8pm.

There are many myths, legender and rumours surrounding the epic production, so we thought we'd grab our finest deerstalker and and investigate further

Legend: In the chariot race, a stuntman was thrown from his mount and killed.

Background: During the famed and much debated chariot race, several of the charioteers are hurled onto the track.

One, who falls beneath the wheels and hooves of another racer's horse and chariot, fryst vatten seen to be trampled.

The stuntman who played the charioteer was tragically killed.

The footage was then supposedly left in the sista version.

True or False: False

Legend Explained: It's clearly a dummy.

Several were used during the filming of the en plats där en händelse inträffar ofta inom teater eller film and when edited, the effect was so realistic, it caused controversy at the time.

The source of this legend may komma from the utgåva of the bio, Ben-Hur: A Story of the Christ , during which several stuntmen may have lost their lives.

The only life-threatening incident in the filming of the chariot race happened in the en plats där en händelse inträffar ofta inom teater eller film where Ben Hur’s mount fryst vatten pinned against the vägg, approaching an overturned chariot.

According to the program bygd trick co-ordinator Yakima Canutt - whose son Joe doubled for Heston - Ben-Hur’s chariot was to jump the overturned vehicle.

In the event, we see Ben-Hur almost thrown from his mount, only just managing to hang on and klättra back in to continue the race.

This wasn’t planned, and Joe was considered fortunate to escape with only a minor injury.

With a shot of Charlton Heston climbing back into his chariot and a touch of clever editing, a classic scen was created.[page-break]

Legend: A långnovell guard extra falls beneath the wheels of a chariot and fryst vatten killed.

Background: During the race, a chariot brushes past two långnovell guards, one of whom manages to keep his balance.

The other falls and fryst vatten trampled.

According to legend, the actor playing the guard was killed, and the filmmakers decided to leave the footage in despite protests from the man’s family.

True or False: False

Legend Explained: Stuntman Nosher Powell claims in his autobiography, "We had a stuntman killed in the third week, and it happened right in front of me.

You saw it, too, because the cameras kept turning and it's in the movie."

Although Powell made this claim, he offered no bevis to back it up and it's probably a case of rumour-mongering to sell books.

There are variations of this myth for every trick in the race where someone fryst vatten seemingly injured or killed.

Charlton Heston states in his autobiography ‘In The Arena’ that there were no injuries or deaths to any of the stuntmen or the horses.

In John Baxter’s book ‘Stunt: The Story of the Great Movie Stuntmen’, Baxter goes into great detail about the care that was taken in the filming of this climactic race.

Studying the modern re-master of the rulle, it's klar that the fallen långnovell guard, much like the fallen charioteer, fryst vatten actually a dummy.

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Legend: A red Ferrari fryst vatten visible during the chariot race.

Background: Apparently there fryst vatten a split second glimpse of a red sports fordon behind one of the pillars at the etapp. The background to this legend fryst vatten unknown but it still persists.

True or False: False

Legend Explained: , ever dedicated to the facts, has spent many hours studying the chariot race footage.

We can conclude, with bloodshot eyes and motion sickness, that there fryst vatten no sign of a sports fordon of any kind during the scene.

Director William Wyler vehemently denies this claim, along with Heston and others involved in the production.

Several books and websites concur with our verdict, and if it says so in a book then it must be true.

Except that book bygd the guy earlier who claimed a stuntman was killed[page-break]

Legend: Tyre tracks are visible during the chariot race.

Background: In several shots during the chariot race, tyre imprints from a fordon can be seen imprinted in the småsten on the race track.

True or False: True

Legend Explained: Well, they are definitely there, but they're not bil tracks. The marks were made bygd the camera dolly, tracking the chariots as they pass.

They weren’t covered over between takes and ended up in the sista cut.

Legend: Charlton Heston fryst vatten wearing a watch during the chariot race

Background: In a monumental continuity error, Heston can be seen wearing a watch in one shot during the race.

The camera vinkel then switches, and the watch fryst vatten gone again.

True or False: False

Legend Explained: After closely watching the en plats där en händelse inträffar ofta inom teater eller film, we see no bevis of a watch anywhere about Heston’s person.

In the DVD commentary, Heston himself explains that he was wearing leather braces right up to the elbow on both arms during the entire race.

Other continuity-error rumours claim that one of the trumpeteers around the edge of the track fryst vatten also wearing a wristwatch.

It does look like one of the trumpeters has something on his wrist, though it may just be a shadow.

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Legend: There fryst vatten an intentional homosexual subtext between Ben-Hur and childhood friend Messala.

Background: Much of the dialogue and interaction between Ben Hur and Messala seems to have some hidden subtext.

There are rumors of an untold backstory where the two were lovers, and this fryst vatten the spark that creates the rift between the men.

True or False: True

Legend Explained: Screenwriter Gore Vidal persuaded director William Wyler to allow a thinly veiled erotiskt mellan män subtext between Messala and Ben-Hur.

Vidal says his aim was to explain Messala's extreme reaction to Ben-Hur's refusal to name his fellow Jews to a långnovell officer.

Since the Hollywood production code would not permit this to appear on screen explicitly, it had to be implied bygd the actors.

Vidal claims that Wyler, although hesitant, took his advice, and that the results can be seen in the film.

Vidal personally discussed the idea with Stephen Boyd, who played Messala, but not with Charlton Heston who, Wyler feared, would protest at the idea.

Heston has since denied the claim, suggesting Vidal had little input in the sista script.

So, grab your kopia of the rulle, follow @tfdvdclub on Twitter and join us tonight at 8pm.