 Introducing Daredevil's of Hollywood. Well, this scene is going to be a cinch. We'll have it before we know it. Hey, Carl, give me an R3 spot right here. Do you want the still man on this, Mr. Reynolds? No, let him go. We plenty of skills. The camera car's all set, Mr. Reynolds. Do you want three cameras on this shot? Yeah, set them up. We're not taking any chances on missing this. And you stay with me, Lou. Fred can handle the camera car. About ready, Mr. Reynolds? Yeah, we're all ready. Now, look, Glenn, you're supposed to be coming in fourth in this automobile race. You've got ten more laps to go. Then something goes sour and you crash into the fence and turn over it. I see. Well, let's do it. Okay, Mr. Reynolds, everything's set. The other drivers are all ready. Well, all right, everybody. We're going to take it. Okay, here I go. Okay, everybody, get set. Here they come into the stretch. Glenn is in fourth place. All right, give him the stick. The motion picture capital of the world, we bring you the thrilling two-life experiences of those men behind the scenes. Those daring unsung heroes whose breathtaking adventures on the screen have thrilled millions. Whose daily jobs bring them face-to-face with death. Those men who comprise the strangest fraternity on earth. The Suicide Squad. The movie Stuntmen. The Daredevil of Hollywood. Ladies and gentlemen, in bringing you this copyrighted radio feature, we are privileged to again have as our guest one of the top-notch stuntmen of Hollywood, Matt Gilman. It is through his cooperation that we are able to reenact some of the highlights of his dangerous profession. The thrilling scenes you are about to hear are his own actual experiences. Matt Gilman is here in the studio right now. And later in the program, we will, of course, bring him to the microphone. But first, let us learn something of his job. It is the spring of 1935. The scene is a huge motion picture set composed chiefly of a large medieval castle surrounded by a moat filled with water. The only passage to this castle is a drawbridge. The picture, Tale of Two Cities, is in production. And Jack Conway, the director, aided by a battery of assistance, is rushing through the big scenes which involve the handling of over 3,500 people. A loudspeaker system has been set up with which to instruct the great crowd of extras. A dangerous scene is to be filmed. And the studio has engaged Matt Gilman, a stuntman, to do that scene. We find him walking on the set, approaching the director. Hi, Mr. Conway. Say, there's quite a crowd out today. Oh, hello, Matt. Yeah, I'll say it's a crowd. Every time I think of the payroll, I get a headache. Well, ought to be a great picture. Yeah, I think it will be, but it's taken five years off my life already. These large casts are hard to handle. I know. It's really a job. What kind of a gag you got cooked up for me today? Well, Matt, I think it's fairly simple. It's a netball. Oh, one of those, eh? Well, what's it all about? Now, here's the idea. This crowd is supposed to storm the castle in an effort to capture it, see? Yes. But the drawbridge goes up and they can't make it. I see. Then what happens? Well, there's a woman in the mob who grabs hold of the bridges that goes up and it carries her clear to the top. I get it. She hangs on all the way up? Yeah, that's right. Then she gets shot and does a fall. And I'm supposed to be the woman. Is that the idea? Yeah, that's it. You're dressed like a woman. It's okay. The shot isn't very close. Well, it sounds okay. The only thing is, Mr. Conway, that bridge up above has got a lot of cobblestones scattered around on it. It'd be very easy for this crowd to knock some of them off into the net. Yeah, I see what you mean. I don't mind landing in the hard net, but I don't want to hit a pile of rock. Well, I don't blame you much. We'll warn the crowd about that. Well, you can't tell about these extras. Sometimes they do funny things. Well, how about it? Ready? Yeah. Soon as I can slip on my mother, Herbert. The time has come for the big scene. A huge crowd stands ready to rush the castle. Matt Gilman, dressed in ready, stands in the foreground. A dozen cameras are trained on the bridge. The director is giving final instructions. Quiet! Quiet down now. Now listen. When the bridge starts up, everybody except the stuntman gets off. And he's pulled to the top, and then he falls. Everything's ready, Mr. Conway. Okay. Here we go. Action! There you better see. Look at him rush onto that bridge. Here it goes. It's going up. They're all getting off. Yeah, all but Matt, and he's hanging on the edge. He's really gonna have a drop there. Hey, look. There's a big rock in the net. There he goes. He's falling. Oh, he landed right on that rock cut. Come on, Mr. Conway. I think he's hurt. He couldn't be anything... How are you, Matt? Are you okay? I guess so. My shoulder hurts a little. How was the shot? Well, it was pretty fair, Matt, but I'm afraid we'll have to take it again. Okay, but if somebody kicks a rock into that net this time, I'm gonna break his neck. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our pleasure to present the man who made that dangerous and difficult scene, who has made hundreds of hazardous scenes for motion pictures. Matt Gilman, interviewed by Hal Stiles. Well, Matt, it seems that your hunch worked out after all. What happened when you hit the rock? Well, to tell the truth, Hal, I broke my shoulder and three ribs, but I didn't know it right then. And you had to do that scene over again with a broken shoulder and three broken ribs? That's right. All together, we had to do it three times. I figured on the third try, if they didn't get it, I'd have to give up. I was about all in. I'll bet you were at that. Tell me, Matt, what is the most difficult part of doing stunts for the movies? Well, it's looking out for just such things as rocks and nets. You know, using a big mob of people like that on the set, something goes wrong nearly every time. Must have been a rather helpless feeling when you looked down there as you fell and saw that big rock. Yes, it was, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Say, Matt, how many stunts have you done for pictures? Oh, I really couldn't answer that, but just guessing at it, I'd say over a thousand. That's a lot of times a cheap death. How do you feel about it now? Do you think it'll ever catch up with you? Well, there's another one I can't answer. I simply don't know. Doing stunts is my job, and if I go that way, I guess it'll be in the line of duty and with my boots on. Well, that's one way to look at it all right now. Matt, what is your favorite stunt? That is, I mean, what would you rather do? Well, it really doesn't make much difference as long as the dough is there. Well, I guess I like automobile stuff better than anything else. You mean smashing up cars, turning them over and things like that? Yeah, that's the idea. See, I get a real boot out of that. I remember once two of us turned a milk truck over, and it was kind of funny the way it turned out, but it looked bad for a minute. It was on a lot over at MGM, and I was telling the other stuntman about it. Say, Matt, just a minute. Before we hear about that, suppose we have just a word from our sponsor. All right, Matt, now what about that milk truck upset? Well, it was one of these trucks that you drive while standing on the running board, you know. We loaded the top with about 1,500 pounds of iron, so it would tip over easy. They were just flat iron slabs. Earl Taggart, the director, was lining up the truck. Let me have a look through that camera, Joe. Ah, yeah, that's okay. All right, how about everybody? All set, Mr. Taggart? Good. Now look, Matt, you and Chick Collins are coming down the street in the milk truck. You make the Collins too fast. You got the idea? Yeah, and she plops over on her side? That's it. You're making about 30 miles an hour. Well, at least we'll have it wide open. That car won't make much over 30. No, I don't imagine it will. It'll make it look just as good as you can. Say, Mr. Taggart, you'd better get all those people out of the street. You know, when she turns over, all those iron slabs in the top will probably fly in every direction. Yes, all right. Hey, Phil, I get those people back. Get them back up there on the sidewalk. We're ready any time you are, Mr. Taggart. Okay, here we go. Now we'll go back about a block. All right. Stand by for the signal. All right, everybody, this is it. Quiet, please. It's a take. Okay, Joe, give them the signal. Well, I didn't waste any time getting shot at. Yeah, that milk truck has quite a pickup. Things have run that fast. We need it to die. They're making well over 30. Okay, camera. Get back on the sidewalk there, all you people. Those guys at Stepping aren't all right. This ought to be good. Here they come. Now watch the cameras, boys. Well, the love of mine. Look at them take that corner. Oh, now get him. What a thriller. Tell me, Matt, what happened? Did anyone get hurt? No, but believe me, if those extras hadn't been off the street, those iron slabs would have raised plenty of havoc. I'd say it was a good thing you thought of those people. Well, a stuntman gets into the habit of looking for bugs just before he does a stunt, if you know what I mean. You mean he looks for possible accidents? Yeah. You see, these iron slabs were just put in the top loose and a piece of canvas was stretched over them. I figured they'd scatter in all directions when she turned over. And how did you stuntman come up? Oh, we were okay. Of course, we got covered with milk. Chick Collins thought his foot was cut off, but it was only a slight gas. We had quite a laugh over it. Uh, tell me, Matt, I understand you were on call at the studio 24 hours a day. Is that right? Yeah. You never can tell when a call will come in. Of course, most of them are in the daytime, but doesn't surprise us if we get called in the day to night. Is that so? Well, now, here's another thing. What do you charge to do a dangerous stunt? Well, that all depends. Depends on what? It works out something like this. You see, I figure what my chances are to walk away from it, that is to do the stunt without getting killed or hurt. Then I make my price according to those chances. Oh, I see. Well, now, I understand that quite a number of men have been killed in this business. What about that? Yes, there have been several hundred killed in stunts in the last 20 years, but most of them were not experienced stuntmen. They weren't really capable of doing the work. And two, sometimes a script writer would figure out a stunt that isn't practical, you know, impossible. Oh, yeah. Good stuntmen must be able to tell what can be done and what can't. Well, Matt, that's very interesting indeed. You have certainly entertained us with your thrilling experiences. To say the least, your profession is unique. And now, on behalf of our listeners, I want to sincerely thank you for coming here, and I know that everyone joins me in hoping that we may have you on this program again very soon. So, until then, goodbye, old fellow, and the very best of luck.