One such location was the old Charlotte Speedway, which was constructed back in 1924. Sometimes these events would be held at wood tracks, which obviously added to the challenge. Julius Caesar and Mark Antony were often the only two characters racing, but sometimes they mixed things up and had more people and different characters at the helm. They would also wear helmets with stylized finishes to imitate the movie’s costumes. Riders would don all kinds of Roman-like costumes to wow the crowds, including robes which would dramatically flow behind them as they sped around the dirt track. With the public thirsty for more of that kind of action, someone saw an opportunity to use modern technology to really amp things up. With the success of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ in 1925, people were absolutely fascinated with everything about it, including the exciting chariot race sequence. It was Australia of all places which first invented this admittedly dangerous and incredibly cool form of motorsport, although people in New Zealand, the United States, and Europe claim they started the trend. If that sounds like some strange Roman game, there’s good reason since inspiration for these odd competitions came from a movie set in Rome. Yes, as unbelievable as that sounds, starting in the 1920s people would strap motorcycles to a chariot as if they were horses, then race against similar setups on a dirt track in a large stadium with throngs of cheering crowds. Another strange aspect of the past is the motorcycle chariot races. But this practice was actually introduced by Emperor Nero around 30 years later.The history of motorcycles is filled with all kinds of oddities, from board track racing to a Harley-Davidson which was designed to be steered from the sidecar. Roman emperor Pontius Pilate is shown signalling the start of the chariot race by dropping a handkerchief.We can’t expect amazing special effects from a 1959 blockbuster but nonetheless, when the ships collide with the other, you can clearly see that the rowers being hit are dummies.As people rush to help him, someone off screen can be heard shouting “Get an ambulance!”, which would be no use as they didn’t have ambulances in ancient Rome. An extra slipped up while ad-libbing during the chariot scene when one of the characters is thrown from his vehicle.But, in the scene where he hugs the animals before the chariot race, he scolds the white mouthed horse for biting him, but calls him ‘Rigel’. When the Sheik introduces the horses to Ben Hur, the one with the grey mouth is ‘Rigel’ and the one with the white blaze is ‘Aldebaran’. Horse lover Ben Hur gets his animals mixed up over the course of the film.As Messala lies dying, Ben Hur removes his victory laurels from his head and places them on a table, but as he leaves the room and walks past the same table, the wreath has disappeared.However, when the vehicle flips over, both wheels are still in tact.
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