Was Stephen Boyd's stunt double really killed and his death left in the final cut?
You can read all about it on snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/benhur.asp
The rumor that Stephen Boyd's double was killed during the chariot race is false. According to second-unit director Yakima Canutt, the "Messala" that was run over, a Roman soldier standing on the center island who was hit by a chariot and the driver of a spilled rig who jumped out of the way of one chariot but was immediately run over by another one were all articulated and weighted dummies (made with movable arm and leg joints), so when they were hit they "reacted" the way a normal human body would in that situation. A combination of adroit placement and expert editing made the dummies look like real people being run over.
If you watch Massala being thrown out of his chariot and trampled in slow motion you can clearly see that the figure pitched out of the chariot, dragged and trampled is a dummy. A close up of Stephen Boyd being dragged is cut into the sequence, but the distance shots are all done with a stiff figure.
Here's a topic for discussion with Dr. Kunath.
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is. Did he not say that the stunt man was killed?
ReplyDeleteThat's what I though, too, before he told us.
ReplyDeletelet's ask on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteDid you?
ReplyDeleteno I did not.
ReplyDelete