The Stunt Man is a critically acclaimed 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 on the set of an anti-war movie whose charismatic director who will do seemingly anything for the sake of his art.
It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Peter O'Toole), Best Director (Richard Rush), and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. However, due to its limited release, it never earned much attention from American audiences at large . As O'Toole remarked in a DVD audio commentary, "The film wasn't released, it escaped."
While on the run from the police, Steve Railsback hides in a group of moviemakers where he pretends to be a stunt man. Both aided and endangered by the director (Peter O'Toole) he avoids both the police and sudden death as a stuntman. The mixture of real danger and fantasy of the movie is an interesting twist for the viewer as the two blend in individual scenes. Written by John Vogel
Cameron is an ex-soldier on the run. He stumbles onto a movie location at a beach resort, and megalomaniacal director Eli Cross compels him to take the job of a stunt man, to replace one who earlier drowned in a dangerous stunt. While Cameron needs the cover offerred by the job and begins to fall in love with actress Nina Franklin, he worries that the fate intended for him by Eli is the same as the fate sufferred by his predecessor. Written by Reid Gagle
A movie stuntman, whose wealthy girlfriend has just turned down his marriage proposal, is determined to prove to her that he is man enough for her, and in doing so proceeds to ruin take after take, driving everyone on the set crazy, especially his director. Written by frankfob2@yahoo.com
