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Post by snsurone on Feb 1, 2019 18:39:21 GMT
He started out as an actor in silent films, but his greatest claim to fame was as being the best stuntman in movie history.
He doubled for Clark Gable (the two were personal friends) in GWTW during the scene where Rhett and Scarlett--along with Melanie, her newborn baby, and Prissy--escaped from the fires and explosions when the Atlanta depot and its munitions were burned.
Later, he was the snarky renegade who attacked Scarlett in Shantytown.
But, perhaps, his best performance was in STAGECOACH, where he played an Indian who was run over by the coach and then rose to his feet, LOL.
I can't understand how John Ford could not have noticed that in the final editing!
His son Joe was also a stuntman, whose greatest role was in BEN HUR, where he doubled for Charlton Heston in the chariot race, and the horses leaped over a fallen vehicle, causing Judah to fly into the air.
Great scene!
Does anybody know what other movies where Yakima stunted?
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Post by mattgarth on Feb 1, 2019 18:46:46 GMT
He did stunts in about 250 movies!
He actually directed the scene in BEN-HUR that featured his son Joe doubling for Heston.
In 1939 (same year as the STAGECOACH stunt) he performed a similar one in the Republic serial ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION. For that one he was run over by a stagecoach and then climbed up the back to confront the bad guys. Spielberg paid homage to it in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Here it is:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IltyRrKqVcY
Thanks for this thread, Snsurone.
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Post by snsurone on Feb 1, 2019 18:58:45 GMT
You're welcome, Matt.
I've always admired the work of stunt men and women who often risked their very lives to assure the success of the movies they participated in.
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Post by mattgarth on Feb 1, 2019 19:03:04 GMT
Adding something else:
Yakima did appear as a performer -- usually a villain -- in some B-Westerns. As an actor he wasn't so great -- but as a stuntman and a director of stunts he was without equal.
With his pal Duke Wayne he created, choreographed and perfected the 'by-pass' technique of throwing a punch that would make it look more authentic -- a method that is still used today (prior to that, actors just flailed away at each other).
In 1967 he was awarded an honorary Oscar -- presented to him by Chuck Heston. And here that is:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpO9dB0aHsI
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Post by hi224 on Feb 1, 2019 19:05:50 GMT
wow.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 1, 2019 19:26:06 GMT
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Post by mattgarth on Feb 1, 2019 20:08:42 GMT
In one 1930s B-Western chase sequence, Canutt actually played both riders. He was literally chasing himself!
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Post by teleadm on Feb 1, 2019 20:33:18 GMT
 Yakima jumping in Stagecoach 1939  Breakheart Pass 1975 last credited stunts as a coordinator, not a bad Charles Bronson railway action movie by the way.  Yakima also directed a few movie, like this one from 1945, staring forgotte actors like Sunset Carson, Linda Stirling, Olin Howland |
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Feb 1, 2019 21:04:42 GMT
Oh, I'll never forget Linda Stirling. She starred in "The Tiger Woman" and "Zorro's Black Whip".
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Post by mattgarth on Feb 1, 2019 21:15:29 GMT
And Olin Howland was an unabashed scene stealer.
Watch him in the hospital sequence in the 1954 sci-fi horror film THEM ("Make me a sergeant, gimme the booze!")
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Post by mattgarth on Feb 1, 2019 21:30:02 GMT
Linda Stirling -- Queen of the Republic chapter serials.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Feb 1, 2019 21:56:59 GMT
I need to watch more serials. I have Zorro's Fighting Legion in the queue but I want to check out Flash Gordon sometime also.
The Adventures of Captain Marvel and the Phantom were really good.
Batmen of Africa is one I have wanted to check out for years since seeing pictures in Famous Monsters.
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Post by mattgarth on Feb 1, 2019 22:02:54 GMT
My fave serial -- DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE (1939), with SPY SMASHER (1942) and KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (1940) close behind. All three from Republic, who made the best serials.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 1, 2019 23:37:46 GMT
With a title like that, it HAS to be good ! |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 1, 2019 23:42:58 GMT
And Olin Howland was an unabashed scene stealer. Watch him in the hospital sequence in the 1954 sci-fi horror film THEM ("Make me a sergeant, gimme the booze!") More cool stuff about O.H. Appears as surplus Jenny airplane dealer in The Spirit of St. Louis (1957). In real life, as a young man, he learned to fly airplanes from the Wright Brothers. He and Irving Bacon are the only actors to appear in both the 1937 and 1954 versions of A Star Is Born. Two of his very last roles were in classic 1950s science fiction films: first as the alcoholic in Them (see above) then as the rancher who is the first victim of The Blob. Among his 187 FEATURE FILM Credits is a little sleeper named : Gone With the Wind |
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Post by mattgarth on Feb 1, 2019 23:53:47 GMT
Olin also memorable as the stern and cruel schoolmaster in THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER
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Post by hi224 on Feb 2, 2019 0:43:17 GMT
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 2, 2019 0:45:42 GMT
Years even !
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Post by hi224 on Feb 2, 2019 19:27:00 GMT
Lots of westerns right as well.
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Post by politicidal on Feb 2, 2019 19:56:17 GMT
Worthy of a biographical treatment.
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