The Stunt Man
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| The Stunt Man | |
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| Directed by | Richard Rush |
| Produced by | Richard Rush |
| Written by | Novel: Paul Brodeur Screenplay: Richard Rush Lawrence B. Marcus |
| Starring | Peter O'Toole Steve Railsback Barbara Hershey |
| Music by | Dominic Frontiere |
| Cinematography | Mario Tosi |
| Editing by | Caroline Biggerstaff Jack Hofstra |
| Release date(s) | 27 June 1980 |
| Running time | 131 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Stunt Man is a 1980 American film directed by Richard Rush, starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback and Barbara Hershey. The movie was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and Rush from the novel by Paul Brodeur. It tells the story of a young fugitive who hides as a stunt double in an anti-war movie whose charismatic but machiavellian director will do seemingly anything for the sake of his art.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Peter O'Toole), Best Director and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. However, due to its limited release, it never earned the attention of American audiences at large [citation needed].
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[edit] Plot
Cameron (Steve Railsback) is a young man running from the police. He stumbles into the middle of the filming of a movie which focuses on the First World War but includes some fictional events in the second. The eccentric and autocratic director, Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole), helps hide Cameron by taking him on as a stunt man to replace one killed during filming. Cameron soon begins to suspect that Cross is putting his life in more danger than he was before.
On a happier note, he becomes involved with the movie's leading lady, Nina Franklin (Barbara Hershey), who had a brief, disastrous liaison with Cross years ago. The director talks Cameron into attempting the dangerous stunt which apparently killed his predecessor. Suspecting that Cross is jealous, Cameron is afraid, but he has no choice.
[edit] Tagline
"If God could do the tricks that we can do, he'd be a happy man..."
[edit] Analysis
The film plays with the audience's perceptions by constantly switching between events occurring in the "real world" and those happening in the movie being filmed on-screen, usually with no transitions.
Peter O'Toole based his character, Eli Cross, on David Lean, who directed him in Lawrence of Arabia.
[edit] DVD releases
The Stunt Man was released on DVD on November 20, 2001 in two versions by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The first version is a standard release featuring two deleted scenes and a commentary by director Richard Rush and stars Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Alex Rocco, Sharon Farrell and Chuck Bail. The second version is a limited edition containing everything from the standard release as well as including the 2001 documentary The Sinister Saga of Making "The Stunt Man". It is also limited to 100,000 copies.
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[edit] External link
The Stunt Man at the Internet Movie Database Current website of the film
