george kennedy
george kennedy getting smacked in the face with the piece of wood in the undertakers is one hell of a piece of realistic stunt work.
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MovieChat Forums > The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) Discussion > george kennedy
I watched that today & I looked at it in slo-mo & was impressed. That scene always cracks me up, especially the way the Duke saunters in & his exaggerated expression of shock when the livery man is being dunked in the water. Grabs that axe handle, yells,"Hey" then POW, right in the mush. What a sucker shot.
Watch 'em Abe, I seen 'em do some things!
I think the key to that shot is the camera work and direction, not the stunt work. The angle of the camera couldn't have made it look better and look like he really got hit by the stick of wood. It sorta reminds me of Pale Rider when Clint Eastwood takes the axe handle to the bad guys at the beginning of the film. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't borrow that from Sons Of Katie Elder. Great camera work there!
shareAs 'Pale Rider' is a remake of 'Shane', I always took that axe handle scene as a homage to the scene in 'Shane' where Joe Starrett takes the axe handle to Ryker's men in the saloon.
"Leave the gun, take the cannoli"
Totally agree. That scene stayed with me ever since I first saw the movie with my folks at the Drive-In when I was 5! I think the duke liked beating up on ol' George. Check out Cahill.
"I thought you was dead" - "Not hardly"
I agree with how real it looked. I kinda wish they had shown some mark on Kennedy’s face when Duke and Dean went to Hastings Store to “talk” & look at the deed. Just a small one, but that’s the way it was back then. Now I’m thinking of Chris Farley – it doesn’t hurt here or here :)
shareLike everyone else on this post, I thought it was VERY realistic. In fact, I'm not sure the stunt man DIDN'T get hit!
As far as leaving a mark, until Bonnie & Cldye was released, when people got shot, not only was there no bullet hole or blood, they all seemed to die without being in a lot of pain.
Cats are delicate dainty animals who suffer from a variety of ailments ... except insomnia.
I agree that Curlley should have had some kind of 'wound' from getting smacked with that axe handle. He should have had at least a broken nose and one or two really bad black eyes.
jtb01
A great man in the perfect roll. Rest in peace and God Bless, big George!
shareCan't remember if it was Rio Bravo or El Dorado where the Duke smacks one of the guys in the bar in the face with the butt of his rifle. Both that scene and the George Kennedy scene always leave me going "ouch"! Realistic most certainly.
Let's pray the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. C.S Lewis