Sam!
Rewrite the opening reel! Crush the little bastard in the first act!–
Peter O'Toole, as Eli Cross.
I love movies, so a
movie that also involves the movie-making process in the plot, is a definite
draw.
The Stunt Man (1980) was directed by Richard Rush, released in the United States on June 27, 1980, and adapted
from the novel of the same title, by Paul Brodeur, published in 1970.
The story
is a combination of genres: action, drama, crime, and offbeat comedy.
Cameron
(Steve Railsback), is a wanted man, a fugitive on the run from the police and
FBI, for a crime that remains unspecified until later in the story.
Narrowly
evading capture at a roadside diner, he stumbles onto a movie set, where a
World War I battle scene is being filmed on the beach.
He merges with the crowd,
as we hear an excerpt from Dusty Springfield’s song Bits and Pieces,
tipping us off that the fugitive and viewer are now “in a world where nothing
is what it seems”.
Cameron’s next attempt to put distance between himself and
the pursuing law results in the death of the movie stuntman, Burt (Michael
Railsback).
As Cameron runs again, he’s seen by the movie director, Eli Cross
(Peter O’Toole), hovering next to the bridge in his chopper.
Burt’s death puts
them both in a dangerous situation: if the police discover Burt’s death, they
will close down the movie set and Eli will be arrested.
Cameron will also be
caught.
They strike up an uneasy pact: Eli will provide Cameron refuge and
sanctuary within the movie set, so long as Cameron takes Burt’s place as the
stunt man.
Cameron accepts because he has no other choice.
Local police chief,
Jake (Alex Rocco), is hanging around constantly looking for Eli to make a slip.
Cameron has an intimate relationship with Nina Franklin (Barbara Hershey), the
lead actress on the movie.
There is a revealing moment to the almost surreal
atmosphere and collective make-believe mindset of the world Cameron finds
himself embroiled in.
As he carries Nina out of the water, and she makes
believe that she is being rescued, Cameron remarks that it’s just like in the
movies.
Nina replies: “I am the movies.”
The romance between Cameron and Nina
sparks jealousy in Eli; he was once in a brief relationship with Nina, adding more
tension to the suspicion he and Cameron have for each other.
There are several
impressive set pieces to this movie.
In particular Cameron’s first stunt
involving a jump between two high buildings.
Not a job for anyone suffering from vertigo.
The stunt includes a rooftop chase and a fall into an enemy
occupied brothel.
Stunt men run, tumble over each other, and fall from the roof, in a long and skillfully filmed scene achieved in a pre-CGI age.
Cameron got more
than he bargained for.
Already feeling trapped and afraid that his cover will
be blown, Cameron’s paranoia is compounded with fear that the director may be psychotic,
unconcerned about safety, and will stop at nothing to get his movie completed –
even if it means Cameron will also die during a perilous stunt.
Or maybe it’s
Eli’s way of getting rid of Cameron, so he could have a second chance of being
with Nina.
Cameron refuses to divulge what his crime is, and Eli uses this
during an argument with Nina, when he expresses remorse about losing her:
“Jesus Christ, woman! Can’t you see the man is reeking with blood?!”
Steve
Railsback is effectively nervous and twitchy as Cameron, a fish out of water,
feeling cornered and paranoid.
It’s easy to empathize and share his
bewilderment, as the stunts he performs become increasingly dangerous.
There
are moments that surprise the viewer as much as they do Cameron, as stunts are
replayed from a different angle, revealing the cameras and crew, and the
movie-effects tricks.
But this is easily Peter O’Toole’s movie.
In a role that
seems written specifically for him, he commands every scene, just as his
character, Eli Cross, commands the movie set.
The best lines are reserved for
Eli, as he uses his fast-talking skills of persuasion on Cameron:
“Did you not
know that King Kong the first was just three-foot-six-inches tall?
He only came
up to Fay Wray’s belly button.
If God could do the tricks that we can do, He’d
be a happy man!”
Eli is tyrannical, grandiose, and hilarious.
He can be comical
and cruel, particularly in his manipulation of Nina, using an embarrassing
incident during the showing of dailies to evoke a genuine reaction of shame he
can capture in a scene.
Dominic Carmen Frontiere’s music score is both majestic
and light-hearted, adding a fun and at times epic feel to the events.
The
scene with Eli Cross arriving on set, stepping off the chopper, makes him seem
like a giant walking the earth.
In Eli’s mind, as the director, he is a giant
among men, and the movie set is his world, a realm he rules, with everyone
there to follow and serve as he commands.
When not hovering over them in his
chopper, he’s above them on his camera crane, or standing on bridges, a king
overseeing his kingdom.
The director as dictator, or maybe even a demon – as
the poster art suggests:
The stunts and action scenes are impressive.
The
script, by Lawrence B. Marcus, is intelligent and humorous.
The uneasy
partnership between Cameron and Cross is well developed, with smart and funny interchanges between Eli and his crew, particularly his lead actor, Raymond
Bailey (Adam Roarke), assistant, Ace (Philip Bruns), hair stylist, Denise
(Sharon Farrell) and long-suffering writer, Sam (Allen Garfield).
On a trivia
note: the clip of the final stunt, when the Duesenberg car hits the water, was
included in the opening credit montage of the TV show, The Fall Guy (1981-86),
starring Lee Majors.
Keep watching after the end credits roll, to hear Eli
Cross’ final hilarious declaration.
Among my other “movies about making movies”
favorites are:
Hooper (1978), Blow Out
(1981), The Hard Way (1991), Ed Wood (1994), Adaptation
(2002), and The Disaster Artist (2017).
I also recommend director Richard
Rush’s earlier hilariously off-beat action comedy: Freebie and the Bean
(1974), starring James Caan, Alan Arkin, Loretta Swit, Valerie Harper, Alex
Rocco, Mike Kellin, and Paul Koslo.
One of the best in the cop buddy movie
genre.
Similarly, Freebie and the Bean didn’t do well on its release,
but has since gained much-deserved admiration.
The Stunt Man is a movie
within a movie, a story within a story, fiction within fiction.
Superbly shot,
entertaining and unforgettable.
A multi-layered story that improves with repeat
viewings, and a must-see for any movie-buff who, like me, loves movies.
Eli
Cross perfectly sums up the movie world to Cameron and the viewer, as if Eli is
both director and usher, standing outside the cinema auditorium, beckoning us
all into his world:
“That door is the looking glass … and inside it is
Wonderland.”
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