Lucky Devils

Lucky Devils is the story of William Boyd and William Gargan and a fraternity of men in the same profession. While watching this film these guys had the same devil may care attitude that flyers have. I could have been watching Dawn Patrol.

One thing Boyd says though, no marriages, no attachment to women of any kind because you lose your edge and nerve. Then of course he falls for Rose Wilson and when they expect a third one, Boyd has to start concerning himself with family.

If this film had been made at MGM instead of RKO this would have been perfect for Clark Gable. No criticism of Boyd who did a lot of these action films before becoming Hopalong Cassidy.

Lucky Devils hlds u well. I couldsee a remake with Matt Damon and Brad Pitt.

This is one of the most energetic of the non-Hoppy entries in Boyd's film resume. Here he's Skipper Clark, the nominal head of a group of Hollywood stunt men called, what else, THE LUCKY DEVILS... a bunch of hard drinking, womanizing guys who are full of superstitions. The #1 rule is a married guy can't be a stunt man, which is proven by the death of one of the newly married guys. Enter a beautiful-yet- despondent Dorothy Wilson, easily the best performer in the movie, who threatens the Devil's dynamic. I don't want to give away the plot, but the real interest is the behind the scenes look at early sound movie making. There's several extensive scenes (including a great opener) involving stunt work... many outdoors (along with some obvious rear projection stuff). Lots of talk about safety but you won't see anyone practicing it. Bruce Cabot's seen here as a stunt man, but it he's wallpaper, seemingly saving his voice for his part in then-in-production KING KONG... Creighton (Lon Jr.) Chaney looks 20 years younger than he would just 8 years later in THE WOLF MAN. Enjoy it and add up the felonies Boyd commits in the last 5 minutes of the movie...

Movie stuntmen are a tight group. They are skirt-chasers, but marriage is the death of their work. Wives would never let their men be stuntmen and a wedding tends to wreck their daredevil ways. Skipper Clark (William Boyd) and Bob Hughes (William Gargan) grab Fran Whitley (Dorothy Wilson) before she jumps off the balcony to her death. She falls for Skipper and they get married.

This is a pre-Code drama. The story is fine although I'm not really sold on the premise. At least, stunt people are not this way today A love triangle would be a more compelling story. The most compelling parts of this movie are the stunts. They are quite exciting and are great examples of early stunt work. Maybe one can fast forward to those sections.

An early film glorifying the role of stuntmen in early Hollywood, characterizing them as brave daredevils who look at the possibility of dying with a smile and great stoicism. There are some scenes here that are indeed quite hazardous, including falls down stairs, swinging over to a burning building, boating down some seriously churning whitewater rapids, and various car crashes. They don't rise to the level of the best stuntwork from the period, but the ones towards the end are at least worth checking out, if you're getting bored during the rather dull middle part of this film.

In 'Stunt: The Story of the Great Movie Stunt Men' (1974), John Baxter lists 55 deaths in California film productions over the years 1925-30, and fans of old films have undoubtedly come across many a scene that looked truly harrowing to make. It's just interesting to me that no one questioned the ethics of filmmakers to put people at such risk, even if the stuntmen involved were willing, and it's certainly not questioned here. Instead, this comes across as a propaganda piece for Hollywood, and annoyingly, it's women who take the blame for accidents involving stuntmen more than once. Relationships should be avoided because they make stuntmen lose their edge, you see, and it's "bad luck" to have one's wife on the set. In one scene, a woman literally distracts her husband while he's trying to perform a dangerous stunt, causing him to fail and another man to die.

The other issue is the flimsy story draped around the stunts. A bottle breaking is an omen for a stuntman dying, and sure enough, it happens. A newcomer is initiated by pouring water through a funnel and down his pants, which humorously enough I had just seen in another film, 'The First Auto' (1927). A woman attempts suicide but after being saved by a couple of guys, is all smiles with them shortly thereafter. A love triangle develops but there are no hard feelings, just smiles. The film wants to make us feel there is danger all around - in the stunts, the pregnant woman not getting proper medical care, and there not being other work because of the Depression - but tonally it needed to be darker to accomplish this. It's worth a look, but guard your expectations.

A fun romp, Starring William Boyd, (best known as Hopalong Cassidy)about a group of Hollywood stunt men. The story by Bob Rose and Casey Robinson, two of the top stunt men of the era, follows the men through the up and downs of the stunt world in early films. Complete with a rousing song,sung several times in the film, about the trials and tribulations of the Hollywood stunt man, not unlike the "Fall Guy" theme. You get a glimpse of "state of the art" stunts of that time and it ends with William Boyd using all of his "stunt" skills to race from Big Bear back to Hollywood to make the birth of his child. It's fun, and gives a good look at old Hollywood as it plays as the backdrop for the story. Just a look at the size of the palm trees lets you know just how long ago this took place. Enjoy!