Well, this movie wasn't exactly
Anthony Mann caliber, but Jimmy
Stewart's always worth watching.
When the wagon overturned with
Maureen O'Hara and Juliet Mills
in it, it looked liked they almost
got crushed ! (and it definitely
wasn't computer generated in 1966)
Maureen O'Hara was 46 when this movie
was made; she looked pretty damn good.
TC
What do you know about that. I would definitely have to agree because I just watched "The Rare Breed" and when that wagon fell I actually said to myself "oh man, that seriously looked bad".
shareI've just watched it and the first impression is "Gee, how did they survive this one!!". Of course, if you have it on tape or DVD you can watch it up close and freeze frame, etc., and there you see: they used dummies, of course. But people in cinemas around 1966 couldn't do that.
Maureen O'Hara looked great in Big Jake made 5 years later, too! To me SHE's the Rare Breed indeed!:-) - very talented and very professional also, an underrated actress!
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This movie turned up on Comcast On Demand so I watched it last night, rewinding and replaying the wagon flip sequence about five times. Wow! It looks HORRIBLE, like a true on-set accident, but it's so seamlessly incoporated into the movie that it MUST have been scripted and planned that way. I didn't get any sense that the people in the wagon are dummies. They look like stunt players (probably men) wearing wigs and costumes so that they closely resemble the actresses they're doubling.
As the sequence goes on, there's another incredible moment where the young man, who's thrown clear of the wagon wreckage, actually runs UP the canyon wall in sheer terror as the stampede bears down on him. This was obviously 100% real and impressed the hell outa me.
It's a shame that such a great, heart-stopping stunt sequence is buried in the middle of such a foolish, indifferently directed movie. Director Andrew McLaglen has an awful problem in this one trying to maintain any sort of consistent tone. The film swings uneasily back and forth between being a serious Jimmy Stewart western on the order of THE NAKED SPUR and being a screwball Disney family comedy -- and unfortunately it's mostly the latter.
I enjoyed the comic touches in this western and thought it was quite good.
Terminate this Thread with extreme prejudice.
It was a close call!!
I have POWERDVD player that allows me to play at 1/8 of the normal speed. I noticed as the wagon was tipping it was almost all the way over at normal view, then when the view zoomed to closeup, the wagon was not as far over. It was still almost on its side, so it WAS staged or the cameras could not have been right there for the shot. But I agree, they were almost crushed . It appears there was a suitcase standing upright that allowed just enough clearance for the people under the wagon, but man it was close. An amazing and very dangerous stunt.
I can just imagine the director saying, "I want you to run this wagon down to that curve and flip it on top of yourself."
Stunt man says, "Why sure, I can do that any old time."
(Give me a break. Gutsy people)
As the women are crawling out from under the wagon the suitcase is visibly propping up the wagon. AND Vindicator is standing in the background, calm as ever. Evidently he sees no sense in running foolishly through a canyon on a hot day wasting his precious energy. LOL...
It's a good stunt, but it's the only redeeming value in this ridiculous movie. The story is utterly absurd. There are so many ridiculous scenes . . . hmmm, but I watched it. What does that say about my boring, pathetic life . . .
so it goes . . .
Many stunt men lost their lives and many lose their carriers because of movie stunts. It was not uncommon in the 40,50, 60 for them to breaks arms, legs and other parts. Now with that said, here is a treat for all of you from the man who did the stunt scene.
"Stuntman!" includes a press photo for "The Rare Breed" signed by Stewart "To Hal -- with my thanks and respect." As stunt coordinator on that film, Needham was given the chance to rewrite an action scene to make it more intense, having Stewart protect the female leads from stampeding cattle by pulling them under an overturned buckboard. Needham reinforced the buckboard with metal plating, four-by-fours and metal stakes so Stewart, Maureen O'Hara and Juliet Mills could be filmed as the cattle ran by.
"The good part of it was you could see their faces under there and you could see the hoofs of the cattle coming right in front of their faces," he said. "I tell you what, they were pretty brave for getting under there."
Your welcome people.
P.S. no one was hurt on this film.
Twothoughts on stuntmen. The Spartacus DVD has a documentary on the training school for gladiators run by John Daheim/Day. There is no soundtrack unfortuantely, and Day appears to be wearing the same cloth cap he wore in Love Me or Leave Me when he and Dale van Sickel take out Cagney.
There are also a number of veterans from the Republic serials(Tom Steele, Cliff Lyons, etc) in the extensive credits. Steele, who succeeded Yakima Canutt as head of the studio's stunt team, was interviewed in The Republic Pictures Story which is dedicated to him. His career extended from Captain Blood to Blazing Saddles which also included Dave Sharpe.
Doesn't anybody read the trivia section on IMDB before starting a stupid thread like this? It says right on the Did You Know? section what happened, but here it is again.
The accident involving the wagon carrying Martha and Hilary ahead of the stampede was real and kept in the film. The women were supposed to be thrown clear, but instead the wagon rolled over them. Fortunately, there was a pit underneath the wagon allowing the stuntwomen, Stephanie Epper and Patty Elder, enough space to be kept from being crushed. They survived with slight injuries and shock. Director Andrew V. McLaglen kept the scene in the film.
The factiod about the stunt was likely added after this thread was created. That being said, that was one hell of a nasty looking stunt. I hope the stunt players were given a bonus after that hellish crash.
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