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Post by snsurone on Apr 19, 2017 16:11:22 GMT
Let's not forget Clark Gable, who insisted on doing his own stunts on THE MISFITS.
Which may have been the cause of his death.
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Post by petrolino on Apr 22, 2017 22:32:18 GMT
petrolino I'm always amazed by your literary clips and your photos. Don't know how you do it. I just wanted to add some facts about Mabel Normand that you may or may not know: She was a director and writer as well as an actress. And - on her way west from New York where she was born - she stopped off to work at the 101 Ranch in Oklahoma. She rode horses in their Wild West Show and starred in their early films, along with Will Rogers, W.S. Hart, Tom Mix, Jack Hoxie, and Buck Jones. This was the prelude to her stardom in Hollywood. And she undoubtedly learned her stunt capabilities while working there. I have more info about this in a post I made elsewhere, but I can't locate it right now. Hey spiderwort, thanks for the kind words. I do enjoy looking at publicity photos and movie stills from across the 20th century. I like when they capture performers in hushed poses under the kind of experimental lighting conditions (and using high-contrast tones) that you just don't see much anymore. Also, they sometimes exhibit a sense of shifting perspective characteristic of German expressionist cinema, or those soft fuzzy textures found in surrealist works and French impressionist films. Sounds like Mabel Normand had her work cut out training alongside wild west stunt riders. There's a documentary showing on youtube about her life in movies that's narrated by Shirley Jones. It's called 'Looking For Mabel Normand' (queen of comedy, action talent, sex symbol supreme). Amazing lady! |
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Post by petrolino on Apr 22, 2017 22:36:28 GMT
Burt Lancaster and his "silent" partner Nick Cravat from the old circus days did a lot of the stunts that can be seen, but not neccessarily all of them, and Nick was a stunt double for Burt in Trapeze. Nick Cravat never spoke in the movies because he could never break out of his Brooklyn accent, and that would have been unsuitable in period adventure movies like The Flame and the Arrow and The Crimson Pirate. In Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet mentioned on the William Shatner thread, Nick Cravat played the aircraft-eating Gremlin. Burt Lancaster's friends Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis also performed some stunts. Douglas can be seen in great shape performing a series of tricky stunts at the age of 62 in Brian De Palma's action horror 'The Fury' (1978). |
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Post by petrolino on Apr 22, 2017 22:43:41 GMT
Gary Cooper in his later movies always wanted to do all his own stunts even if his age and health was detoriating, They Came to Cordura and The Wreck of the Mary Deare was very strenious and caused delays in the productions. I think Clint Eastwood was the same until the directing bug took over. In the 1970s, he worked to ensure his on-screen physique was admired by female co-stars and displayed muscletone in vehicles like 'The Eiger Sanction' (1975). By the mid-1980s, perhaps he was slowing down. When Eastwood made 'City Heat' (1984) with action man Burt Reynolds a stunt went horribly wrong; Burt had been pulling off small-scale stunts for years but during a fight scene the wrong chair was used to hit him in the head and his jaw was shattered. |
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Post by Richard Kimble on Apr 23, 2017 6:12:03 GMT
From the Wiki page for the 1960s TV series Daktari:
Daktari was based upon the 1965 film Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
On the series, Clarence did not do all his own stunts; he also had a stand-in. Leo, another Ralph Helfer-trained lion, doubled for Clarence whenever any trucks were involved, since Clarence spooked at the sight of these vehicles. Leo even had his own makeup artist who applied cosmetic scarring like Clarence's, so that he would resemble Clarence when photographed in closeups. This was referred to in an inside joke from the preview trailer for the movie Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion, that Leo (which also appeared in the MGM logo and had a gentle temperament very similar to Clarence's) was not related to Clarence.
Another less-friendly lion, also named Leo, doubled for Clarence in some scenes. He was used only for the snarling scenes and general scenes which did not involve proximity with humans. This Leo had come from a family in Utah. His ferocity was due largely to abuse he received from former owners, who beat him badly with a stick.
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