I don't know all of them, but I can answer a few:
2) He was asking Alec what he thought he was doing, and telling him the horse's name was Shaitan, or "Satan." Not a good idea playing My Pretty Pony with a horse named Satan.
6) It was a sea urchin.
7) Seaweed has been a popular food in many cultures for thousands of years.
8) There was a glass pane between them and the snake.
9) Fire is not difficult to make, given supplies, time, and know-how. Alec seems like an energetic, outdoorsy kind of boy, and that's the kind of thing energetic, outdoorsy boys tend to learn.
10) Probably not, but it makes for a wonderful story. Actually, given how obsessively horse lineages have been manipulated throughout history, I suppose it's distantly possible. Unlikely, but possible.
11) It was seaweed in a turtle shell.
14) He was just hanging out, minding his own business, when suddenly a strange man carrying a large clattering metal object enters his yard. Given his shyness and aggression, is it any wonder he flipped?
15) Alec had been barreling around town all day, asking everyone he met if they had seen a big black horse. The guy probably heard about it from someone Alec asked. The guy is named Snoe, played by Clarence Muse.
16) Looks like a real owl to me.
17) Lots of people are named Jim, Neville, and Jim Neville. They're both common names. As for the one in this movie, I don't think so. During his broadcast, he mentioned being from Belmont, and looking up "Jim Neville Belmont" only brings up references to this book/movie.
19) George Monroe Woolf (May 31, 1910 – January 4, 1946) was a Canadian-born thoroughbred race horse jockey and the namesake of the annual jockey's award given by the United States Jockeys' Guild. (Wikipedia)
20) He was waiting awkwardly for a chance to tell his mother he was racing. People fiddle with random things when they're waiting awkwardly.
22) Even though jockeys are supposed to be small and light, they have to maintain at least a minimum weight in order to control their horses properly. The jockey was two pounds underweight, so the other guy gave him some weights, which probably got clipped onto his saddle or something. (At least, that was my interpretation; I could be wildly off base here.)
25) It's possible to pass the same spot twice during a race because the track is circular. Duh.
27) The Black was frightened and aggressive; the red horse sensed his fear, got scared himself, and lashed out. This was probably done with extensive training to get them to act aggressively without actually fighting, and selective camera work to make it look more substantial than it really was. ("A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.")
28) Yeah, probably, but in the heat of the moment, you don't really think about things like that.
29) The guy screwed up. Maybe that's why he lost.
30) Okay, so she left lipstick on his face. So? These things happen when people insist on spreading artificial, pointless, brightly colored substances on parts of the body used to touch other people.
31) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Ole
Cross my heart, smack me dead, stick a lobster on my head.
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stevenscottoddballz
14 years ago
Thank you VERY much for the answers to a LOT of these!
As to number 25, I REALLY didn't see it as a "Duh.". My reference was to "At 2 miles, they'll come by the stands twice." At 2 MILES? Isn't a race track longer than a mile? In order to pass by TWICE, wouldn't they have to go MORE than a mile? THAT is to what I was referring.
Eight divided by one-half equals four squared!
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dm3588
14 years ago
I suppose it depends on the racetrack, but in this particular case, the fact that they're gonna pass the stands twice in a two-mile race kinda speaks for itself.
Cross my heart, smack me dead, stick a lobster on my head.
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buyorsell888
12 years ago
3. in the book, lightning.
10. No, Bucephalus is not mentioned in the book at all.
12. Alec Ramsey lives in New York City, he was visiting his Uncle in Arabia.
17. no, Jim Neville is made up
19. Yes, George "The Iceman" Wolfe is absolutely real. He is a Hall of Fame jockey.
21. If I remember correctly Belmont Park, might have been Aqueduct or Jamaica all tracks in NYC. My book is in the attic so I can't check.
22. Clerk of the Course. His job is to make sure the horses are carrying the correct weight. In all races horses are assigned weights. For example, all horses in the Kentucky Derby carry 126 lbs except fillies carry 121. In handicap races horses are assigned weights by the track according to their ability. The idea is to get them all to the finish at the same time. The better the horse, the higher the weight. If the horse has to carry more than the jockey and saddle weighs then lead bars are inserted into pockets that are in the saddle cloth. Most jockeys weigh about 115 which is ridiculous for an adult that has to be in such good physical shape. They, sadly, starve, purge and take drugs to try to keep their weight down. Weights are higher in other countries. They weigh before and after each race. If their weight is wrong, the winner will be disqualified....
31. Wikipedia
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suzyQz
14 years ago
As to number 25, I REALLY didn't see it as a "Duh.". My reference was to "At 2 miles, they'll come by the stands twice." At 2 MILES? Isn't a race track longer than a mile? In order to pass by TWICE, wouldn't they have to go MORE than a mile? THAT is to what I was referring.
I don't recall the detail from the books and I didn't see this film, but 2 miles would be a very long race by modern thoroughbred standards. The current lengths of the U.S. Triple Crown races are 1 1/4 mile for the Kentucky Derby; 1 3/16 mile for the Preakness; and 1 1/2 mile for the Belmont Stakes. The main track at Belmont Park is supposed to be the largest dirt track in North America, and its circumference is 1 1/2 miles. Thus, the Belmont Stakes would not have the horses running past any particular points twice. Churchill Downs' track is only 1 mile in circumference, so the horses pass the "finish" post twice - the first time shortly after the race starts, and again at the end of the race, because the track is 1/4 mile shorter than the length of the race.
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blackno31
10 years ago
The race itself was held at Belmont Park. I'd recognize it anywhere. Actually a lot of race tracks are a mile to a mile and a half long (can't remember off the top of my head the exact distance of Belmont Track but the Belmont Stakes is one and one-half miles and I do believe they pass the stands, or a portion of them, twice). So at two miles at Belmont, they would indeed pass the stands twice, because they went around the track about two times.
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peeptoad13
9 years ago
Isn't a race track longer than a mile?
In North America most dirt tracks are either one mile or 1-1/8 miles. Very few (Belmont is an exception) have dirt tracks longer than 9 furlongs, although there are many (lower level tracks, mostly) that are less than 1 mile. The track filmed for this movie, Woodbine, had (at the time this was filmed) a dirt oval that is exactly 1 mile in circumference.
eta: it was actually filmed at Fort Erie track in Canada, my mistake. The track is a 1 mile oval there too though.
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Cantoris-2
11 years ago
> 15) Alec had been barreling around town all day, asking everyone he met if they had seen a big black horse. The guy probably heard about it from someone Alec asked. The guy is named Snoe, played by Clarence Muse.
The guy lived on the same farm as Henry, maybe even worked for him, or at least lived nearby. He must have seen Henry trying to get The Black into his barn.
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Cantoris-2
11 years ago
>7) Seaweed has been a popular food in many cultures for thousands of years.
And when you get hungry enough, you'll try to eat anything that looks the least bit nourishing. As a naturist recently observed on the radio, if it tastes good, it probably is good. If it tastes bad, it probably is not good to eat.
Fruits, especially, evolved to be eaten by animals. That is how the seeds spread.
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