What are we seeing when Zorro amazingly jumps off the bridge on horseback? If a stuntman really did it, which appears to be the case, it's the sort of stunt that could easily kill a horse. I wonder what happened.
"I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken."
I came across this http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s989zorro.html although it it does not altogether answer the question:
I have a back story for one action scene. Pursued at night, Zorro escapes by making his horse jump off a bridge into a roaring river. The horse leaps the rail and falls, legs stiff, at least twenty feet. It looks incredible, all in one shot. Just the year before Fox had impressed the fans and probably killed a couple of horses with an wild leap from a cliff in Jesse James; here the feat was accomplished with unique trickery.
The horse was trained on the bridge set, which was initially built with an additional circular ramp leading from the center of the span back to land. The stuntman ran the horse out, and showed him how to use the ramp. As the horse became more accustomed to the route, a rail was raised for the horse to first step and finally jump over. When it came time to shoot the scene, a day-for-night shot, the ramp was removed. The rider brought the horse onto the bridge and over the rail as he always had, and whoops - no ramp. I hope the horse didn't snap a leg or its neck from shock as it went down. I believe the wicked stunt rates a special chapter of Evil in the annals of the ASPCA, as a dirty trick played on a victim of the equine persuasion.
Yeah, I've heard that story about JESSE JAMES, and the legend of the stunt killing the horse. Not sure if it's true, but it's certainly plausible. The production people probably didn't even bat an eye, they just hoped the shot worked.
In "Old Hollywood," a producer often brought in what was known as an "action director" to create such scenes. Usually, they were guys who worked in silent films who knew how to do dangerous gags, especially in westerns. I remember this because William Wyler spoke about hiring one when he shot THE BIG COUNTRY, and Wyler, like John Ford, was a seasoned director of westerns, so even they needed help with physically demanding scenes.
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The way that the stunt double for Tyrone Power sits a horse reminds me powerfully of Dave Sharpe. He is believed to have worked on as many as 4500 movies in his 50 odd year career as a stuntman; actor, & second unit director (specializing in stunts). Yet, I can find no information to link Sharpe to this production. He was often uncredited. He was known to have doubled Tyrone Power (they were close to the same height & build). Yet, there is no compelling proof. Does anyone happen to know?
shareIf the water was deep enough that the horse's hooves didn't hit bottom, there was probably no injury.
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