The Stunt Man

Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsbeck, Barbara Hershey
Richard Rush's 1979 film bucked the studio system with its multi-layered storytelling and interesting themes. It also provided Peter O'Toole with one of his best screen roles. In spite of being nominated for three Academy Awards - Best Actor, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay - studio politics buried the film and it has languished in cult semi-obscurity ever since. Vietnam veteran Cameron (Steve Railsbeck) is on the run from the police when he stumbles onto the set of a war movie. A megalomaniac Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole) is directing the movie. Taking the place of a dead man, Cameron becomes a stunt man and starts to fall in love with the leading lady played by Barbara Hershey. Is Eli trying to capture the stunt man's death on film? In addition, what happens to a paranoid man when illusion and reality change places?
Thanks to Anchor Bay Entertainment for permission to screen The Stunt Man.
National Society of Film Critics of America Award 1981