I could not believe that stunt at the beginning of this film. I went back and watched it about a dozen times. A lorry barrels over a hill and almost hits a group of people. One man looks about half an inch from it.
shareI noticed that, too. It looked like the tumbling truck nearly brushed the cap off of his head. I thought that the truck must have been a miniature, but it looked far too seamless for the special effects technology they had at the time. Was it just footage of a nearly averted terrible accident that was left in the film? Anyone have any details on the stunt?
shareCount me in, because that sequence has amazed me for years - I remember my jaw dropping open the first time I watched it (it still does, actually). I went right to the trivia section to see if someone died while shooting the stunt, because it really looked like that guy got hit. Unfortunately, the IMDb page for this film doesn't have a trivia section.
Maybe one of the Brando biographies talks about THE UGLY AMERICAN in depth. If only there were a commentary track...
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The truck falls off a steep cliff at high speed and the person was on a narrow path below the top. By the time the truck has fallen to the same height as the running person, the truck is at least twelve feet closer to the camera than the person. There was little depth to the shot, so he appeared to disappear directly under the truck's wheel. To make it perfect, the truck lands on a downward slope that increases the effect of the truck never being too far from the ground. This was all intentional and worthy of great praise.
shareThat was probably the best stunt in a movie I've ever seen.
Thanks for such a great explanation. Are you a cinematographer?
"This was all intentional and worthy of great praise."
First time I had seen the movie and I was surprised to see such a realistic, well put together stunt in the opening.
I don't feel the rest of the film lived up to the live wire introduction however.
The stunt was performed by the Stunt Arranger on the film, Paul Baxley (one of the best in the business) and he wasn't injured.
I agree that foreshortening by a longish lens makes the truck look a little closer to Baxley than it was.
Having said that, it looks to me like the truck was fractionally off course when it came over the brow of the ridge. There is a very flat section in the ridge, which would have helped in keeping the truck on a straight course, but the truck's right wheel (as we look at it) is slightly off the flat section. Also Baxley is at first looking up at the truck, obviously to time his run, but suddenly speeds up, I think, when he realizes that he will have to run further than he expected to clear the truck.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=10dXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=%22the+ugly+american%22+stunt&source=bl&ots=Zc6u5PxHT6&sig=dzka0pW1Ficj-GYWY7epUOipMW0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QuAvVIK8Homu7AbA4IDAAQ&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20ugly%20american%22%20stunt&f=false
It was 1963 AND in a foreign country. No rules... Just Right!!!. That guy had his ankles run over for sure.
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