MovieChat Forums > The War Wagon (1967) Discussion > Was Kirk doing almost all of his stunts?...

Was Kirk doing almost all of his stunts??

posted 16 years ago by rleary1
9 replies | jump to latest

I was constantly amazed how athletic Kirk Douglas was in this movie and he must have been around 52 years old (not that that's really old) but he constantly would run and jump up in the air onto the back of his horse. Even if he had a springboard it was still very cool. There's another part where Kirk throws a rope about 30 feet high up onto the top of a rock, grabs the rope, and scurries up the 90 degree side in record time (No Sideshot Bat-fake here folks) I zoomed and paused in several parts and it appears to always really be Douglas in only one take. Dang, he just flies in this movie and it's really cool. Anyone else notice this?

[–] betsybug 14 years ago

Yes, I noticed. Douglas was really light on his feet especially when he seems to almost float his way to the saddle.

[–] x-ramubay 14 years ago

Douglas worked closely with the stunt man crew, in this case stuntman/actor Hal Needham who played one of the guards inside the stage. Needham directed Douglas in their follow-up to this film called The Villain made 12 years later and Douglas is still flying into and out of his saddle.

[–] steveintucson 13 years ago

I wonder if that was the Duke jumping on his horse when he makes a getaway from the drunken mexicans. I don't see how someone as big as he was could keep from smashing his balls jumping into the saddle or worse, making the horse collapse from the weight.

[–] DaveR011 8 years ago

John Wayne had had a lung removed in 1964 and was no longer in very good physical condition. It's a good bet that that scene, and any other physically demanding one where you cannot see his face, was done by a stunt man.

[–] phillipsdan83 (99) 4 years ago

Wayne did most of his own fight scenes but certainly he was doubled for jumping on the horse, and any scene that required hard riding or running.

[–] NickNoraCharles 12 years ago

Well, Kirk seems to make it a point that he can jump on a horse, with many variations : running from behind, from the side over another horse, from the other side with a quick flip of the leg. It got me wondering of there wasn't a small trampoline on the ground right next to the horse, but he seemed fit enough to do those acrobatics himself. I laughed everytime he got a new variation right!

[–] tjklaehn 10 years ago

The movie does a self-parody of all of Kirk’s horse jumping when he falls off the horses in the last scene.

[–] bengt_malma 9 years ago

In his autobiography "The Ragman's Son", Kirk Douglas tells of how he wanted to do that really cool jump himself, using a small trampoline. He mentions that Wayne, when asked about Douglas´ horsemanship said, "Hell, Kirk can't even get on a horse without using a trampoline."

[–] Bill-16 8 years ago

Kirk and Burt Lancaster were known for making sure the camera knew when they did their own stunts. After a particular bit of showmanship they make sure that they stick their face in view before the scene cuts away .
Many people with money behind the film's hated this. Lancaster really busted his ankle up in The Train, but I don't think time or money was lost. They had his character get shot in the leg so he could limp his way through the film.