I’m sure this point has been made long ago by someone who is quicker on the uptake than myself, but it just occurred to me now as I was going through the bonus features on the brand new Ben-Hur DVD set. My thought is simply this: The famous image of Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd linking their arms as they drink a toast to their friendship — an image that was prominent not only in the posters for the 1959 version of this film, but also in the posters for, ahem, The Celluloid Closet (1995; my commentary) — is kind of, sort of repeated at the end of their famous chariot race, when the wheels on their chariots overlap, and lock, and finally Heston’s wheel pulls Boyd’s wheel off its axle. Was this a conscious motif? Were the wheels linked in death and revenge a deliberate inversion of the arms linked in friendship? Or was this accidental, in which case I suppose I am reading something into this?
BTW, if you want to win a free copy of this four-disc DVD set — which includes the 1925 silent version as well as a disc of bonus features — check out the contest at Jeffrey Overstreet’s blog.
SEP 21 UPDATE: My review of the set is now up at CT Movies.
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