1925 | Brothers' Ink Productions

Here is the list for the Best Movie Stunts for the Decade 1920-1929 as listed in the book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

1920: The Mark of Zorro

First time on the list for Zorro (not the last), and for Douglas Fairbanks. The Mark of Zorro represents the first in a line of Adventure films and Douglas Fairbanks was technically the first swashbuckler, an adventure actor that does a lot of the stunts himself. He was an incredible athlete, by all accounts, and this film showcases that ability very nicely.

1921: Never Weaken

Harvey Parry admitted on his death bed that he doubled Harold Lloyd on some of the stunts in this movie. This comedy movie would make way for all the dangerous slapstick comedies to come by Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton.

1922: Robin Hood

Great example of Douglas Fairbanks at the top of his game, but in this case he’s helped out by his stunt double, Charles Lewis in several stunts. This is also the first time Robin Hood makes the list (also, not the last) and it’s interesting to me that several movies hit the list multiple times. You’d expect that with movie series like James Bond, being highly stunt driven, but still seems like a surprise when it’s just different versions of the same movie, like Robin Hood and Zorro.

1923: Safety Last!

The second half of this film, where he is climbing up each floor of a building is sheer brilliance. It’s nerve-wracking! The final few moments hanging from the clock is as iconic a film moment as you get. It’s a single-solitary slice of film that represents everything that being a stunt performer is all about. This would be the poster boy for the stunt movement. In fact, this should be the award they give out at the Academy Awards for Stunts, a Golden Statue of Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock tower.

1924: Sherlock, Jr.

This is the period where Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton keep out-doing each other every film. But, I will add, that this particular film is just about my favorite stunt film of all time. It would definitely be in the top ten for best stunts of all time, it’s that great. Buster Keaton not only blows your mind with the stunts in this film, but it’s also an incredible film cinematically and some of the techniques he develops with this film are revolutionary.

1925: The Prince of Pep

This was where Richard Talmadge was trying to be an actor, but he soon found out that his talents lay with Stunt work. He goes on to be a fantastic Stunt Man and Stunt Coordinator in the years to come. In this one, he has a nifty gag where he jumps from the rooftop of one building through the window of the next building. He makes it look easy.

1926: The Devil Horse

Yakima Canutt is generally thought of as the grand-daddy of all stuntmen…not that he actually gave birth to all of them, just that he was a big reason why stunt work has legitimized as much as it is right now. He developed techniques for safety and paved the way for most of the stunt men to work behind the camera as an action director or second unit director and as a stunt coordinator. In this film he shows his early chops as a rodeo star as he rides the devil horse, Rex.

1927: Wings

This film won the first Academy Award for Best Picture, but thanks to Dick Grace, has some great flying stunts in it as well. No-one crashed a plane on cue better than he did.

1928: Steamboat Bill, Jr.

Another great film from Buster Keaton. This one is another one of those iconic images that help to propel the whole stunt world forward, an amazing stunt, where Buster just stands in one spot as the whole front of the building falls around him. Could have easily killed him if he was just a little bit off his mark. Great stunt.

1929: Tarzan the Tiger

Every wonder where Tarzan got his signature yell and signature swing from tree to tree from? Yep, from this movie. They used it in every Tarzan movie after that. Frank Merrill was very athletic and did all his stunts in a skimpy loin-cloth.

For more information about these stunt performers and these movies, including a lot of great trivia, please look for their chapters in the new movie stunt book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

Richard Talmadge was not the best actor, let’s get this out at the start. But he was a fantastic stuntman and went on to a great career as a second unit director and stunt coordinator after the advent of the talkies, because he had a thick German accent. He first came to the USA as Ricardo Metezzetia, boy member of the famed acrobats, the Mazetti Troupe, that had been engaged by Barnum & Bailey Circus. Prince of Pep (1925) gives Talmadge a chance to show off some of his athletic prowess as he scales the sides of city apartment buildings, jumps from fire escape to fire escape. In one stunt, he leaps from a rooftop across an alleyway to a window of the next building, making it almost too easy.

As I do my research, I’ve found that most of the work of the stunt performers, stunt coordinators and second unit directors, go completely unnoticed in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. The studios during these decades really tried to keep these movie secrets to themselves and so these incredibly important people have passed through time with barely even a word of written recognition or acknowledgment. This is the case with Richard Talmadge, as I had a difficult time finding anything about this man, and his work before the talkies. He was a giant among stunt performers and second unit directors/stunt coordinators, but hardly anyone has ever heard of him. To see what I mean, just go to his page at IMDB and you will see his work is massive, and yet it’s all listed as (UNCREDITED).

Just to see his mind boggling work, I suggest you see the winner for best stunt (Spoiler) for 1964 (Circus World with John Wayne). That “ship turns over in the harbor” scene is his and it makes your eyes pop out that they did this with no CGI. Prince of Pep is a stunt-driven silent melodrama, directed by Jack Nelson for Truart Film Company.

Things to look up (click on item to go to IMDB page or Website):

Richard Talmadge

Prince of Pep

Jack Nelson

Truart Film Company

Glossary of film terms as defined by Wikipedia:

Stunt Coordinator – A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, filmor theatredirector or production company to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of stunts for a film, television programme or a live audience.

Where the film requires a stunt, and involves the use of stunt performers, the Stunt Coordinator will arrange the casting and performance of the stunt, working closely with the Director.

In many cases, the stunt coordinator budgets, designs and choreographs the stunt sequence to suit the script and the director’s vision.

Second Unit Director –In film, the second unitis a discrete team tasked with filming shots or sequences separate from the main, or ‘first’ unit.

The functions of the second unit vary, but typically the first unit always films the key face-to-face drama between the principal actors. Two frequent ways a second unit is used are:

Action sequences. Action sequences are often filmed in discrete locations, using stunt personnel rather than the principal cast, and requiring significantly different filming arrangements than for ordinary scenes. Therefore they are an obvious opportunity for second unit shooting.
‘Pick-ups’. After the main unit has finished on a set or location, there may be shots that require some or all of this setting as background, but doesn’t require the principal actors – such as close-ups, inserts, cutaways and establishing shots.

Because second units often film scenes with stunts and special effects in action movies, the job of stunt coordinator is often combined with that of second unit director. Many second unit directors were stunt coordinators first, including Vic Armstrong, who has directed second unit on The Amazing Spider-Man, Mission: Impossible III and War of the Worlds; Simon Crane, who did Men in Black 3, Frankenstein and X-Men: The Last Stand; and Terry J. Leonard, responsible for second unit on Cowboys & Aliens, The Expendables and Die Hard: With a Vengeance.

Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!

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Category Archives: 1925

Best Stunts of the Year List 1920-1929

Richard Talmadge and Prince of Pep

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