The Stunt Man (1980)

Director:

Richard Rush

Writers:

Lawrence B. Marcus (screenplay)
Richard Rush (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

25 February 1981 (France)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

"If God could do the tricks that we can do, he'd be a happy man . . ."

Plot:

A fugitive stumbles on a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out, and falls for the leading lady.

Plot Keywords:

Stunt | Police | On The Run | Death | Stuntman

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Peter O'Toole	...	Eli Cross
Steve Railsback	...	Cameron
Barbara Hershey	...	Nina Franklin
Allen Garfield	...	Sam (as Allen Goorwitz)
Alex Rocco	...	Police Chief Jake
Sharon Farrell	...	Denise
Adam Roarke	...	Raymond Bailey
Philip Bruns	...	Ace
Charles Bail	...	Chuck Barton
John Garwood	...	Gabe
Jim Hess	...	Henry
John Pearce	...	Garage Guard
Michael Railsback	...	Burt
George Wallace	...	Nina's Father
Dee Carroll	...	Nina's Mother
Leslie Winograde	...	Nina's Sister
Don Kennedy	...	Lineman
Whitey Hughes	...	Eli's Assistant Director
Walter Robles	...	Eli's Assistant Director
A.J. Bakunas	...	Eli's Script Clerk
Roberto Caruso	...	Cop #1
Frank Avila	...	Cop #2
Stafford Morgan	...	FBI Agent Thompson
John Alderman	...	Carlbinarri
Jack Palinkas	...	Technician
Cecil Brittain	...	Technician #2
Garrett McPherson	...	Tourist
Nelson Tyler	...	Elk's Crane Cameraman
Louis Gartner	...	Brothel Man #1
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Joseph Arno	...	(uncredited)
James Avery	...	(uncredited)
Frank Beetson	...	(uncredited)
Gregg Berger	...	(uncredited)
Deanna Dae Coleman	...	Stunt Crew (uncredited)
Larry Dunn	...	Stunt Crew (uncredited)
James Garrett	...	First cameraman / Stuntman (uncredited)
Don Hayden	...	WWI German Soldier (uncredited)
Patricia McPherson	...	Pretty Woman (uncredited)
Ross Reynolds	...	Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
Gordon Ross	...	(uncredited)
Marion Wayne	...	(uncredited)
Leigh Webb	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Rush

Writing credits
Lawrence B. Marcus		(screenplay)
Richard Rush		(adaptation)
Paul Brodeur		(novel)

Produced by
Paul Lewis	....	associate producer
Richard Rush	....	producer
Melvin Simon	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Dominic Frontiere

Cinematography by
Mario Tosi

Film Editing by
Caroline Biggerstaff
Jack Hofstra

Art Direction by
James L. Schoppe

Set Decoration by
Richard Spero

Costume Design by
Rosanna Norton

Makeup Department
Richard Blair	....	makeup artist
Ken Chase	....	makeup supervisor
Ken Chase	....	old age prosthetic makeup artist: Barbara Hershey

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard H. Prince	....	dga trainee

Art Department
Gary Fettis	....	assistant property master

Sound Department
Michael Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lee Strosnider	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
David Domeyer	....	special effects
Mike Edmonson	....	special effects foreman

Stunts
Phil Adams	....	stunts
A.J. Bakunas	....	stunts
Gregory J. Barnett	....	stunts
Gary Baxley	....	stunts
Wayne Berg	....	stunt pilot
Norman Blankenship	....	stunts (as Norm Blankenship)
Hank Calia	....	stunts
Deanna Dae Coleman	....	stunts
Erik Cord	....	stunts
Ted Duncan	....	stunts
Larry Dunn	....	stunts
Kenny Endoso	....	stunts
Whitey Hughes	....	stunts
Gray Johnson	....	stunt coordinator
Gray Johnson	....	stunts
Mike Johnson	....	stunts
Al Jones	....	stunts (as Alton Leo Jones)
John Kazian	....	wing walker
Tom Morga	....	stunts
Regis Parton	....	stunts
Don Pulford	....	stunts
Walter Robles	....	stunts
Dick Warlock	....	stunts
James Winburn	....	stunts
Charles Bail	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ross Reynolds	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William L. Asman	....	camera operator
Bob Fillis	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Bob Fillis	....	best boy
Tim Griffith	....	chief lighting technician
Terry Kempf	....	electrician
Michael E. Matteson	....	grip

Editorial Department
Dolly Gordon	....	assistant editor
Robert Leader	....	editorial coordinator

Music Department
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer

Other crew
James S. Appleby	....	head pilot: WWI-planes (as Jim Appleby)
Dan Perri	....	title designer: main titles
Ross Reynolds	....	helicopter pilot
Alicia Rivera Frankl	....	production executive (as Alicia Alon)
Dean Westgaard	....	parachutist

Production Companies

• Simon Productions
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• Magnetic Video (1980) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1980) (USA) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Intrada  score album released by (limited edition)

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | UK:X (original rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Flynn Springs, California, USA

Company:

Simon Productions

Trivia:

Although actors like Martin Sheen and Jeff Bridges were lobbying hard for the part of Cameron, Steve Railsback clinched the part after director Richard Rush saw his stirring performance as Charles Manson in Helter Skelter (1976) (TV). Once Rush decided on Peter O'Toole and Railsback as his leads, he waited a year and a half to make the picture with them, turning down chances to go forward with O'Toole and Bridges, Sean Connery and Railsback, and George C. Scott and Sheen.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Eli pulls Cameron onto the crane, Eli's arm wraps around him and stays wrapped around him for the rest of Cameron's closeups even though Eli has removed the arm to tell Cameron to look into his camera.

Quotes:

Eli Cross: [after an effects shot involving a dummy has gone wrong] It's so awful, it's beautiful. I do wish I could use it.
Sam: That's all we need.
Eli Cross: Well, we need something, Sam, and damn well you know it. Something better.
Sam: Better? How better?
Eli Cross: Something less boring. Something crazier.
Sam: A dead man's boots are dropped over his own airfield out of chivalry. That's not crazy enough for you, huh?
Eli Cross: They did it in a film called "Wings." Even the dummy was bored.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Sinister Saga of Making 'The Stunt Man' (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bits & Pieces

Strange film....

When I first saw THE STUNT MAN, I was very enthusiastic about the film and raved about it to anyone who might be interested. I've watched it twice with some friends since, but they weren't very enthusiastic about it, so I can imagine that for many people it won't pay off. It's an ingeniously constructed film that takes some patience and attention to watch. Made by the erratic Richard Rush, this was his pet project for nine years. Although the direction is fine, it's mostly a virtuoso piece of scripting (credited to Rush and Lawrence B. Marcus, based on Paul Brodeur's novel) that makes this such a special film.

A short plot outline: Fugitive Cameron (Railsback) stumbles onto a movie set where megalomaniac director Eli Cross (O'Toole) promises to hide from the police if he replaces his ace stunt man, who got killed earlier on the set in a freak accident while filming a scene. Is Eli trying to capture Cameron's death on film while he is performing a stunt? Reality and imagination soon blur when Cameron grows increasingly paranoid because Eli Cross doesn't let anything or anybody get in the way of shooting his masterpiece the way he wants. He doesn't seem to care about human life, as long as his movie is shot in the way he wants it.

Railsback is an odd choice for the main role but apparently the makers wanted a "low-key" actor for the main part. Barbara Hershey gives a great performance but without Peter O'Toole's tour-de-force performance, I doubt if the film would have worked as well as it did, especially with such a challenging and multi-layered script. He delivers his lines with such vigor that you cannot look away, a grand performance by perhaps my favorite actor off all time. Such a pity that his (later) career mainly consisted of mediocre films at best and some disastrous ones, sadly... I cannot imagine this kind of film being made in Hollywood today and even back then it might be called a small miracle it got made in the first place, let alone released (in fact, it sat on the shelf for two years before release). Perhaps it's all a little too ambitious at times but with a cast like this and such a dazzling script, it's definitely worth the effort.

The DVD-release by Anchor Bay comes with an extra disc loaded with extra's. Lots of interviews, including one with O'Toole and a very peculiar - almost two-hour (!) - documentary about the making of the film, presented by Rush himself, almost worth seeing in itself.

Camera Obscura - 8/10