AN EPIC THRILL

Evening Star, Issue 19778, 31 January 1928, Page 3

AN EPIC THRILL

THE CHARIOT RAGE IN * BEN HIJR ’ M all's delight in clean-limbed horses battling for the mastery in speed and endurance has been as unchanging as the Sphinx. Down through the centuries from the very earliest years, when even history was unmade, the racing of fiery steeds lias been bis ruling passion. Besides the contests of of her times tho racing of to-day seems uraemic and spiritless. Then, indeed, must horse and master be sound in wind and limb, and with hearts that never break. The Roman chariot race, has no parallel in contemporary horse racing. Seldom did all tho contestants leave the course alive. Often their mangled bodies and splintered chariots bore testimony to the bitterly-fought battle and tiie cost, of the final victory. fn writing his classic novel, 1 Hen Hur,’ General Lew Wallace described .such a race in the Circus Maximus at Antioch. The story has now been produced in screen form by Metru-Gukl-wyn-Mayer, and is a mammoth production of tremendous scope and beauty. And the chariot race, as shown in the motion picture, is probably the most gigantic spectacle ever conceived. For three weeks Fred. Niblo, assisted by B. Reeves Eason—the man who has engineered thousands of motion picture thrills—rehearsed men and horses for the race that was to make film history. On the day chosen on which the race was to be finally “shot ” a huge crowd of motion picture celebrities, together with prominent citizens of San Francisco, Los Angelos, and Hollywood, assembled on Hie huge block of ground on the outskirts of Culver City, where a complete and faithful replica of the famous Circus Maximus at Antioch had been erected. No less than forty-two motion picture cameras clicked from every conceivable angle as the straining, plunging teams of blood horses thundered round the arena amid the cracking of whips, the shouts of excited contestants and onlookers, and swirling clouds of dust. Camera men, hidden in speci-ally-constructed pits below the level of the stadium floor, “shot” horses ami chariots as they sped at—and then over—the cameras. Light automobiles sped neck-and-ncck with tho charging teams in order to secure “close-ups” of men and horses in hectic action. Ramon Novarro, known to millions of picture patrons, drove bis own chariot in his role of “Bon Hur,” so did Francis X. Bushman, who plays Messala. May M'Avoy, Kathleen Key (who visited Australia with a motoin picture company a few years ago). Frank Currier, Carmel Myers, and Claire M'Dowell are others who have important roles in ‘ Ben Hur, which commences a special season at the Empire and Octagon Theatres on Friday next.