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For all the newbies: on a random Wednesday, we pick a random subject to write a random blog entry about. And what more random of a topic than stunt work in the silent days?? In all the glamour of today’s stunt performers, jumping off buildings, dangling from cliffs, etc. it’s easy to forget that this area too, had some primitive beginnings!
Typically, when a script called for a particularly daring feat in the silent days, they occasionally hired a professional “daredevil”, or a fencing expert, or whatever the need was. But a majority of stunts were done by the actors themselves. I know, right?! See, back then they weren’t as concerned with stars getting hurt – it was a part of the job at the time. In the really early days (around 1900), many non-professionals would gladly do a stunt for real – and often for free! Walk across a steel beam on a skyscraper, 1000 feet in the air? Sure, no problem! Also, a lot of cowboys were out of work due to civilization taking over the “Wild West”, and they needed income. Stunts were no problem for these guys – they’d done it all on the ranch! Needless to say, many of them became stuntmen.
Top: Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times (1936) Bottom: Harold Lloyd in Girl Shy (1924)
Early comedians were usually vaudeville performers who were used to taking falls and doing crazy tricks live and in person, so they kept this going when they transitioned to film. Comedy masters Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin were no strangers to “stunt work”, and did some pretty amazing things in their films – no stunt doubles required. Which brings us to the most dangerous stunt ever done in a movie (EVER. Even in today's day and age)…
In Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928), Buster Keaton attempted something that no modern stunt performer would be allowed to do. The scene: a hurricane hits his town, and he is trying to find shelter from the high winds. Then...the side of a house falls on him. One tiny, open window in the wall is what saves him, and he’s left standing with the wall collapsed around him. Cool, right?? But here’s the thing…it was all REAL. Buster had a nail in the ground to mark where he should stand, and he could not be an inch off target. A tiny bit to one side or another, and the (real) wall would have (really) hit him – and he could have been killed. No safeguards, no special effects. One shot. No pressure. 😛
The warrior queen; Helen Gibson
But…these performers were all men, right? Women didn’t do things like that back then…did they? YES THEY DID! The first “recognized” stunt woman was a rodeo rider named Helen Gibson. Helen and her rodeo troupe were touring through the LA area when suddenly their show collapsed, leaving them stranded in Venice with no job and no way to get home. Early movie mogul Thomas Ince hired the entire cast and enjoyed the profits from his onslaught of action movies, featuring the displaced riders. Many of them ended up returning to rodeo shows, but came back to do stunt work during their off-season. Helen was one of them, and did her most dangerous stunt in 1915: jumping from the roof of a train station - onto a moving train! She only suffered minor bruises afterward. In the 1910's, action serials featuring a brave heroine (such as The Perils of Pauline in 1914) were quite popular, so stunt women were often needed! These serials were the forerunner to TV shows, featuring weekly installments at a local theater and were usually 20 -30 minutes long. And we think a heroine show like Supergirl is a "new" concept...HA!
"Gower Gulch", today a shopping center - forever a legacy.
The movement of cowboys-turned-stuntmen eventually led to: cowboys-turned-stuntmen-turned-movie stars. Naturally. And they had their own, special gathering place where assistant directors would go and get cowboys to do their stunts! It was a drugstore (and possibly a speakeasy *gasp*!) called Columbia Drug Co., but known as The Watering Hole. On any given day, the assistants would show up and hire a few men to work (usually on a per-day basis). These would-be stuntmen became known as “The Gower Gulch Gang”, for the area in which they usually worked (the studios near Gower St. in Hollywood).
Harold Lloyd's super-modern stunt equipment is said to be the first of it's kind
But cowboys weren’t the only ones doing stunts! Comedian Harold Lloyd’s film Safety Last (1923) is said to be the first film to use safety devices for the stunts. So…up until then…everyone was on their own…! Yes, "Safety Last" put safety first. Their “crash pads”? Mattresses. Their “gator backs” (padding underneath the clothing)? PADDED CORSETS. You can’t make this stuff up, I mean… Additionally, the performers were using safety harnesses attached to the building, and a professional daredevil was hired to actually climb up the side of a building. But…what was the reason for all this precaution? Well, as the story goes, the LA City Commissioner refused to issue a filming permit unless they had safety equipment! Bravo, LA!
Eventually, safety became a must for everyone, regardless of where they were filming, so stunt work became safer – and more organized. Professional training became the norm, and stunt work was divided into specific areas (i.e., wire, auto, utility, etc.). But the days of all-out anarchy in stunt work brings new admiration for us when we see the movie through today's safety-conscious lens. Be sure to watch the video for a few more jaw-dropping silent movie stunts! Head 'em up - and move 'em out...after fastening your seatbelt, of course! 😉
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