CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
A DOCUMENTARY FILM:
"Split-Second"
An abstract submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in
Mass Communication
by
Edward London
June, 1977 The Abstract of Ed~1ard London is approved:
John Shultheiss, Comm1ttee Chairman
California State University, Northridge
ii ABSTRACT
A DOCUMENTARY FILM
"Split-Second"
by
Edward London
Master of Arts in Mass Communication
This thesis project is a self-written, produced and directed, film on the career of stuntman director, Richard Talmadge. It is a half-hour production in 16mm. Eastmancolor with an optical soundtrack.
Richard Talmadge was a screen and stunt performer beginning in the 1920's. He appeared in some of his own films and also doubled for many notables including the late Douglas Fairbanks Sr. In the early 1930's with the advent of sound, he subsequently embarked upon another career as a second-unit or stunt director.
After The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1935) and
iii the highly acclaimed Beau Geste (1939), Talmadge became firmly established. Over the next thirty years he worked on as many films. Later representative highlights of his career were Prince Valiant (1954) with Robert Wagner, !lmv the West liJas r,~~Jon (1962),
Circus l.Vorld (1964), ~lhat's New Pussycat {1965) and the James Bond film, Cas~no Royale (1966). He specialized in spectacular scenes of sweeping hordes, massive destruction, fire scenes and chases. His unusual life as one of Hollywood's film pioneers lends itself to a visual interpretation. The film combines an interview with Richard Talmadge, with still photos and motion picture sequences from some of his best works in cinema. The interviewer and narrator is actor Marshall Thompson of television's
Daktari series. The ~usic, circa 1913-1917, is a solo piano rendition of a pastime by Artie Matthews and a piano rag by James Scott.
iv "SPLIT~SECOND"
Shooting script
October, 1976 fade in CUE: SILENT FOOTACF.. ( chase and 0:00 jumping from a log pile. ) THE SAWMILL (1923). CUE I·1USIC
OPENING SCENES EHPHl\SXZE Tl\L!-1ADGE PERFORMING SOLO STUNTS. fade out/in CUE: l-11\.IN TITLES ~50 fade out/in SILENT FOOTA~F. ( continues ) 1:10 fade out/in CUF.: CREDITS 1:55 fade out/in SILENT FOOTAGE ( continues ) 2:15
CUE: VOICE OVER 2:45
Narrator: 'l'his 1923 t~vo-reeler shmvs
Talmadge in top form. In almost every
minute of the film he was performing
falls or spectacular jumps, ,..,hile.
doubling for baby faced actor, Larry
Semon. About ten such Semon films
were made with Talmadge stunting in
all of them, but this one, The
Sa~~il~ remains among the best.
From a performer in the silent shorts
of the 1920ts, we will trace Richard
Talmadge's career through a timespan
of almost four decades, when he was an 2.
Narrator: (continues) accomplished
stunt director of the epic film.
(V.O. OUT) 3:15
fade out/in EXTERIOR PATIO 3:25 c.s TURNING TO CAMEPA
Marshall: Well that's the way they
used to make movies. In those days
actors and stunt men took risks
every day they worked and there
were many injuries and so.me fa tali ties. Perhaps the greatest stuntman of all
was Richard Talmadge. He came to
Hollywood around 1917 from a European
circus family and had been one of the
stars of the Metzetti team, an
acrobatic troupe. Well, Richard is
still very much with us and I'd
like you to meet the man who performed
some of the most daring stunts on the
silent screen, Richard Talmadge. zoom out ·& Richard: Well Marshall, I hope I've 4:00 pa·n. 2 c. s earned all that praise.
Marshall: Richard, I've been looking
at a lot of footage you made in the
silent days and I understand that you 3
Marshall: (continues) did everything
that the audience saw on the screen?
Richard: That's right. We didn't
have the sophisticated special effects
that exist today.
Marshall: Why don't we take a look at
some more of those stunts you did in
the twenties? 4:25 fade out/in SILENT FOOTAGE (jumps from a 4:30 building into a lake.) CUE MUSIC
END SEQUENCE. (MUSIC OUT) 5:30 fade out/in EXTERIOR PATIO 5:35
2 c.s Marshall: You certainly had to be in
good physical shape to keep up with
that sort of action.
Richard: Oh yes. l"7hen you make
pictures all year round you keep in
good shape.
~1arshall: But you must have had some
mishaps or injuries?
Richard: Yes, I've broken my neck.
Marshall: You broke your neck?
Richard: Yes, in two places. About
six months later I started all over
again. 4
Marshall: Didn't that scare you?
Richard: No, nothing scares you w~en
you do a stunt. The only thing that scared me was the big check, five
bucks. It was five dollars for every stunt we did.
Marshall: So if you did a stunt such
as fall off a building then, it was
five dollars. How much would it be
no'tv? c.s Richard: About b-;o thousand dollars. 6:30
Now I made a lot of pictures mostly
all with a comedy background. I went
up seven stories one time, supposedly
chased by some policemen. As they
came towards me I backed off the
roof and I fell through seven awnings to the street. I slid from the last
awning above the sidewalk into the automobile of the Chief of Police.
2 c.s Marshall: Richard, you were a good 7:20 friend of Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
weren't you? Richard: Yes, I was a very good
friend of his. He was a wonderful
__ •!.. 5
Richard: (continues) athlete.
Don't let anybody tell you about his
doing tricks with springboards. He
! ! didn't need them. Every day we
worked out together and learned ne\'1
tricks but I admit he had ~ way of
copying them a little better than
we did.
- fade out/in STILLS. ( 3 sequential shots of Richard doing a high jump.) (insert) DIALOGUE OVER. 8:00
Marshall: In 1927 sound came in.
Since you were a star exclusively
of the silent era, what effect did
this have on you? I know it
affected many people.
fade out/in Richard: Yes it affected directors
2 c.s and actors. All went out on their
ear. They imported stage players
from New York and soon found out it
didn't work. They had no idea about
motion pictures which was a different
media entirely. Most of those left
by the wayside never made a recovery.
I was hurt because I was a European
and had a dialect. So then I went 6
Richard: (continues) into stunt
directing and began to work on the
big action pictures. c.s ON RICHARD
Marshall: You know Richard, one of 9:05
my favorite pictures was Beau Geste
with Gary Cooper, Ray Milland and
Brian Donlevy. You did the second
unit direction on that didn't you?.
Richard: Yes I did and that was a hard
picture to photograph, on account of
the brightness of the sun and the sand.
If you shot it at noon it looked like
snow. So I naturally wanted to shoot
early in the morning while there were
pockets of shadows but Wild Bill
Wellman had different ideas. He
said, " Who the devil are you to tell
me when to direct and not direct? "
I said, " You can do what you please
but that's the only time you'll get a
good picture. " He came back a little
later and said I was right. fade out/in BEAU GESTE FILM SEQUENCE #1 ( Beau 10:10 and the Sergeant hold off Arabian horsemen charg.ing the fort. ) 7
mix down CUE: VOICE OVER 10:15 track Narrator: Beau Geste was one of the
1930's memorable successes. The
film's strong visuals today perpet-
uate it among the classics. A most
moving and often remembererl scene
is the relentless sergeant piling corpses against the battlements
while Beau looks on. This is
intermingled with Talmadge's swift
battle charge of Arabian horsemen
outside the walls. fade out/in EXTERIOR PATIO 12:00 c.s Richard: I said, " Wellman, how
about the oasis? I have a bunch of
dead palms and nothing moving. "
He said, " ~«lhy don't you get sorn.e
wind machines? " The studio said
nothing doing but he argued with them and the next day a barrage of wind
machines came. There were eight or ten of them and every palm was wired
to a truck. So when the Hind machines
were started and the trucks started
to pull, I had the best storm that
-~----~------•--·------····------~~------· ------·· --- . - . -.------.. - ·-- •:.- 8
Richard: (continues) you've ever
looked at. fade out/in BEAU GESTE FIU'l SEQUENCE #2 ( Digby, 12:40 the second Geste brother, is shot down in the sand as the three survivors make a her.oic attack on an Arab encampment. ) OPENS ON DIALOGUE SCENE. mix dot>m CUE: VOICE OVER 13:20 track Narrator: A second notable scene
was the dust scene Talmadge argued
so long for; to be done right with wind machines. It provided a
visual aura around the heroic death
of the second Geste brother. The
trumpet dropped into the wind
ravaged sand is the film's final
ironic symbolism.
(V .0. OUT)
END SEQUENCE 14:30 fade out/in EXTERIOR PATIO 14:40 c.s Richard: Now I did a picture with
Robert Wagner and the outstanding thing was the fire. fade out/in PRINCE VALIANT SEQUENCE #1 ( Valiant 15:00 pours oil on the enemy and burns down the Viking stronghold. ) 9
mix down CUE: VOICE OVER 15:10 track Narrator: Prince Valiant was one of
Holly,..,ood' s early attempts to save
itself from the onsl~ught of
television. Resplendent in Techni
color and Cinemascope, with
seasoned performers like James Mason
and leading lady, Janet Leigh, it
also introduced newcomer Robert
Wagner. He jumped around considerably
but no, he didn't do any of the stunts
and his acting performance did little
to further his career. However, the
spectacle was mighty and in the epic
manner which Italy was to copy
almost a decade later.
Richard's fire scene, the burning of the Viking stronghold,
remains a visually exciting and
daring exploit of considerable
proportion. Over one hundred and
fifty stuntmen were involved in the
fire scenes. Incidentally, these
ran almost ten minutes, a full reel
of film in the theatrical version 10
Narrator: (continues) but were
predominantly absent when the film
was released for television. This
was probably because the historically
accurate method of medieval warfare,
incorporating the pouring of burning
oil upon the enemy, was graphically
depicted. Surprisingly, Talmadge
did fill ersatz skins with real oil
which heated, was poured on the men
belo~. Because oil alone did not
burn 't;r.Jell, highly flammable additives were mixed with it to heighten the
flaming effect. The stuntmen naturally wore asbestos clothing.
With the ever present danger of fire
and numerous flailing bodies engulfed
in flames, it was to Talmadge's
credit that there were no major
Track up injuries. 16:40
END SEQUENCE 18:40 fade out/in PRINCE VALIANT SEQUENCE #2 ( Valiant 18:50 fights and slays the Black Knight. ) mix down CUE: VOICE OVER 19:00 track Narrator: Prince Valiant's other
highly dramatic action scene was the 11
Narrator: (continues) final
encounter between the treacherous
Black Knight, James Mason and
Valiant, Robert Wagn~r, in the Hall
of King Arthur. Mason fights
savagely for his life while Valiant
avenges king and family. Talmadge
employed three fencing masters to
teach the techniques of fighting
with broadswords and the end result is an almost perfectly stylized
combat against the background
strains of early electrified
music in cinema. track up (V.O. OUT)
END SEQUENCE 20:10 fade out/in EXTERIOR PATIO 20:20
2 c.s Marshall: In 1959 you did the stunt directing for Some Like it Hot with
Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon. cut to STILL. ( Marilyn Monroe publicity 20:35 insert still from film. ) c.s. Richard: Yes, we did all the chases
in the picture. It wasn't very much to do but they had to have it. 1.2
cut to Marshall: And also you did the
c.s. second unit directing on T~e
Grea~est S~ory Ever Told,
North to Alaska with John Wayne and
Hawaii with Julie Andrews.
c.s. ON RICHARD 20:55
Marshall: Then you did Cas~no
Royale with Peter Sellars, that must
··· --have--been -a-fun-pro3-ect?__
Richard: Yes but it was hard work.
I was working for five directors
and I had to lay out a storyboard
and show them in illustrations
what I was going to do. If one
accepted it another refused it. We
had a lot of funny sequences,
especially the Indians coming
through the casino skylight. cut to STILLS. How the Nest t'las TtJon insert montage. (1. stars composite 2. stuntman slipping from logs 3. the train.) 21:40
CUE: VOICE OVER 21:45
Narrator: Talmadge also worked on
some of the epic films of the 1960's.
Tragedy occurred in How the West
Was Won when, ·as a result of a 13
----~·. ·- -- -· -·------··--
Narrator: (continues) breakavray
log pile on a moving train, the
stuntman husband of actress Yvonne
de Carlo, lost both his legs.
Talmadge had a natural reluctance
to discuss this accident in any depth.
fade out/in EXTERIOR PATIO 22:05
·c.s. Richard: I take a lot of blame
because we were not supposed to
have done that train wreck in the
picture at all. There was a lot of
dilly dalliing. When I created the
sequence the studio was afraid I
would wreck the train. It was a
1902 train which would have been
smashed if it had gone down the
ravine. I actually didn't wreck the
train and that scene received
thirteen standing ovations in Paris.
fade out/in CIRCUS WORLD SEQUENCE #1 (trapeze performers. ) 22:40
CUE: VOICE OVER 22:45
Narrator: Circus World brought
Talmadge back to the life he had
left as a youth, that of a trapeze 14
Narrator: (continues) performer.
His direction boundered a spectrum.
of circus action, including the mix up staging of a multitude of trick track riding scenes. fade out/in CIRCUS NORLD SEQUENCE #2 ( trick 23:25 riding with horses and a stagecoach.) fade out/in CIRCUS WORLD SEQUENCE #3 ( shio 24:20 sinks with all aboard in harbor. )
CUE: VOICF OVER 24:25
Narrator: Circus World a~so put
Talmadge on the payroll of Samuel
Bronston, one of the biggest spending
producers in film history. Every
one of his films that decade had a
multimillion dollar budget but few
made a profit. Ironically this film,
within which Talmadge would so competently sink a ship with all
aboard, was also to sink the Bronston
financial empire. The perfo~ances
of the actors and the storyline
were simply not up to the eoic stunts.
Bronston did arrange for the sinking
of a real ship in Barcelona harbor.
Talmadge moved.fourteen hundred 15
Narrator: (continues) extras
through this scene with up to one
hundred and fifty persons falling
into the harbor in any given
shot . There ~7ere no dro\'ming
accidents. fade out/in CIRCUS ljiJORLD SEQUENCE # 4 ( 3 persons climb the ropes of the flaming big-top and cut away the canvas. ) 26:05
CUE: VOICE OVER 26:10
Narrator: The film's clifuax was a . - large tent fire. The doubles for
Rita Hayworth, John Wayne and
Claudia Cardinale were called upon
to climb the ropes and cut away the
flaming canvas. Talmadge recalls
Hayworth's double as a woman of
forty-one who had not performed in.
five years, yet highly competent.
By contrast, Wayne's double froze
on the ropes and only the stunt-
woman's aid averted real tragedy.
Earlier insert shots were
incorporated into the final version
so that the audience never saw the
real stunt dilemma. 16
fade out/in EXTERIOR PATIO 29:15
2 c.s. Marshall: What was the last stunt
that you ever did?
Richard: That was in 1962 when I was
sixty-two years old. I did a thirty-
five foot fall from a cliff. I was
supposed to land in a tree hanging
head down. Gary Cooper was watching
when I did it. He said, " If I
didn't see it, I wouln't believe
it. ~ The title of the picture
was The Garoen of Evil. c.s. ON RICHP..RD 29:55
Marshall: In 1965 you directed
the go-kart sequence in
What's New Pussycat. cut to STILL ( Peter Sellars wearing a insert wig. ) 30:05 c.s. Richard: Yes; and my wife helped
me to invent what you see in the
picture. When we reached Paris
they didn't have anything about
go-karts, so·we had to start from
scratch. We looked at the film
and noticed they needed something
to pep it up. They gave us a 17
Richard: (continues) script and
in a week's time we laid out a
routine. It was very successful.
2 c.s. t-1arshall: Richard, ~auld you 30:35
tell me what was the last picture
you r1 irected?
Richard: The Last Safari shot in
Nairobi, Africa. It wasn't a
very happy picture for me because I had to do a lot of work with wild
animals and had no protection. I
don't know if it was a successful
picture. I never even looked at
it. I left Nairobi and went to
Spain. I travelled around there
six months and then came home. c.s. Marshall: During the fifties and 31:00
sixties, Richard Talmadge ~irected
about fifteen major pictures. A
special Richard Talmadge Award was created by the Hollywood Stuntmen's
Association and he was honored at an
awards banquet on which a video
special was done. cut to EXTERIOR TALHA_DGE HOME CARMEL 31:25 18
l.s Richard working in his garden.
cut to Richard walking down pathway with
his ~life Sue.
CUE: VOICE OVER 31:50 Narrator: Talmadge spends a healthy
retirement in the country, on his land near Carmel, amongst his
family and his horses. His wife,
Sue, is collaborating on his
biography and his daughter plays
polo now, reminding him of his
days with Fairbanks, over half a
century ago
CUE: HUSIC
fade out/in SILENT FILM SEQUENCE #3 { climbing 32:10 a tall tree. )
fade out/in END TITLE 32:50
fade out 33:00 mix down track