I'm Still Alive

Hollywood stuntman Steve Bennett (Kent Taylor) had a tough day on set and diva actress Laura Marley (Linda Hayes) doesn't help with her loud music. It is not an easy first meeting especially after she thinks that he stole her dog. Somehow, he tames the shrew and they get married. After she witnesses a dangerous stunt, he promises a distraught Laura to quit his job.

It's a good start for the romance. I did not expect dog theft as a meet-cute. The actors are good together. On set romances happen all the time. I don't recall too many of this combination in recent movies other than The Fall Guy. They should do more of them.

Kent Taylor is a fine stunt man in Hollywood. Then he marries movie star Linda Hayes. She's terrified by his deadly stunts, and forces him to quit.

There's a lot to recommend this movie, from the stunts to the general ambiance of the stunt players' bar, to a cast that includes Asta and Fred Niblo (playing Fred Niblo the director). To Howard Da Silva and Ralph Morgan. Unfortunately, Miss Hayes is not very good, and there's one of those endings in which they hand wave away all the problems that have been building up for 71 of its 72 minutes. This leads me to think that screen writer Edward North had a far more tragic ending in his original screenplay. Still, for the first 71 minutes, it's pretty good.

Whether it was intentional or not, RKO Studios was successfully sued because of "I'm Still Alive". Apparently, the story of an actress' marriage to a stuntman was WAY too close to that of star Helen Twelvetrees and her then stuntman husband, Jack Woody. That marriage did not last...and when you watch the movie, you can certainly understand why.

Steve (Kent Taylor) just completed a deadly stunt on the film set. At the same time, obnoxious actress Laura Marley (Linda Hayes) is having a typical sort of tantrum--and Steve tells the stuck-up actress to shut up! From this inauspicious beginning is a relationship between the stuntman and actress. But the marriage is doomed...not because they don't love each other but because Laura insists Steve stop stuntwork. You can certainly understand why...but Steve is bored with just sitting around as well as letting his masculinity take a hit. Can the two somehow patch things up or is the marriage (like in the real life story) beyond repair?

Despite being a B-movie and having mostly small-time actors, this is a very good quality production. I really liked the romance (while it lasted) and having professionals like Ralph Morgan and Henry De SIlva (playing a nice guy for a change of pace) on hand to offer support, it's a terribly enjoyable film. My only complaint was the overuse of the song "Darling Clementine"....which, after a while, became tedious....but cheap for RKO to use.

By the way, in one brief scene Steve is chatting with the director, Fred. In reality Fred was the real director, Fred Niblo. And that familiar looking Fox Terrier is Asta of The Thin Man movies.

Steve is a stunt pilot for the movie studio. But when he gets hitched, laura, the new wife asks him to stop flying. She's worried that something horrible will happen to him. But ... when steve can't find another job, he thinks about going back to it. Similar story to "the bride walks out". What happens when the wife makes (a lot) more than the husband? Such a crush to his ego back then. An issue probably just as volatile back than as it is now. Will their marriage survive? Taylor and hayes were both minor players for RKO. And that dog running around the whole time sure looks like asta from "thin man". And yes, that's dick elliott in the bar as dan; he was also the mayor in andy griffith. Director irving reis died young at 47. Story by edmund north. It's not bad, for an RKO B shortie film.

Over in Trivia there is this little note: Actress Helen Twelvetrees sued, claiming that the film was based on her life story. She won her case.

It would have taken a really bad lawyer to lose the case. RKO was on record of making the claim. On page six of the pressbook sent to the theatre exhibitors, there was a long publicity story , for use in local newspapers when the film was showing in their towns. It told of the many stunt men who were involved (in actual roles and stunts) on "I'm Still Alive." Mentioned were Allen Pomeroy. George Magrill, Cliff Bergere, Art Dupuis, Cy Slocom and several others. And, about half-way through the long ready-to-be printed (and it was) story was this paragraph from RKO's publicity department: "Strangely enough, every one of them is married, and most of them own their own homes. It is a fetish with these men who lead such hazardous lives to run no bills, to pay cash for everything they buy. They had fun on the picture which, they say, is based on a true story of one of their number, the romance a few years ago between the former star, Helen Twelvetrees, and stuntman Jack Woody."

She might have overlooked it. if they hadn't called her a former star.