MovieChat Forums > The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Discussion > My grandfather was a stuntman in this fi...

My grandfather was a stuntman in this film

posted 19 years ago by RabidRenaissance
36 replies | jump to latest

There are two scenes in which I know he is included prominently. Unfortunately, my father passed away 3 years ago, and took with him the recollection of the rest of the details involving Grandpa Chad.

Scene 1:

Robin cutting the rope of the castle gate (or was it the drawbridge?) and hanging on as it pulls him over the castle wall. That whole stunt was 100% Grandpa Chad, with no net or harness involved. Eroll Flynn pretty much hopped off of a soapbox for the close-up at the end.

Scene 2:

During the rescue of Robin from the executioner, there is a brief shot where a castle guard takes an arrow in the chest and slumps over. The gaurd is Grandpa Chad, and the shot is of particular signifigance (despite how brief it is) since his face and upper body fill the frame and you can clearly see him.

I want to take a moment to thank the fine folks here at the IMDB for adding this film to his filmography based only on my assertion that he was an uncredited stuntman in it, and for their willingness to upload a picture of him at no charge, if I could just find one...

Check out my grandpa!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873865/

[–] Dr_Miklos_Rozsa 19 years ago

your grandfather's character gets hit with an arrow, pulls it out and ignores his wound, and a few moments later he climbs over the castle gates to chase after the Merry Men.

That's not an extra. That's a cameo appearance.

[–] ozymandias312 19 years ago

Cool.:o)

Ozymandias312

[–] LainEverliving 19 years ago

That's really awesome, to have a link to such a wonderful piece of motion picture history! It's too bad you don't know more about his involvement, but nevertheless, that's still quite a story. Congradulations!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Joe Ranft, rest in peace. We miss you dearly already.

[–] RabidRenaissance 19 years ago

I never got to meet Grandpa Chad, as he passed away before I was born. My father's passing was also sudden and unexpected. Sitting down and documenting what he knew and could recall about his father was always something I had intended to do.

There are is a scrapbook and various pictures back home, and I hope my Mom can bring them to our planned family Christmas gathering this year. I'm hoping that between the scrapbook and the collective better memories in my family, that I'll be able to flesh out Grandpa's IMDB site a bit more.

Check out my grandpa!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873865/

[–] dukeb0y 11 years ago

That is really cool!!!!!

To be an extra in a movie like that, thanks for letting us know!

[–] kellyz-1 19 years ago

I just saw the movie during christmas holidays and was so surprised! I'm doing a little research at the moment about RobinHood Legends and of course I have to watch several Robin films. After I saw the weired "Prince of Thieves" with boring Kevin Costner, I was excited to watch "Adventures...". I guess it's one of the best RobinHood films ever!!! (But my personal favourite is always "Walt Disneys Robin Hood", the smart fox is too cute!)
Back in the old days of filmmaking, without special effects and computer editing, it has been a big piece of work to create such a great movie like "Adventures of Robin Hood"! So that your grandpa was involved, is really cool! You have to be very proud, to be connected in a personal way to this wonderful film!

[–] thirteenth_muffin 19 years ago

your grandpa rocks.

[–] nateba 19 years ago

That's truly nifty. It's one thing to know a celebrity, but it's another thing to be part of film history. I've probably seen this movie somewhere in the double digits and can visualize the precise bits you name.

cinefreak

[–] freefall79 19 years ago

that is so cool, you may be proad to know that your grandfather has in fact achieved a type of immortality even after his death

Thunderbirds Aren't Slow

[–] RabidRenaissance 19 years ago

Time flies in the cubicle farm.

I've managed to collect a few potential pictures of him to upload, and it is hard to choose between them all. Sadly, I was unable to find any Robin Hood related photos.

One is a great action shot of him hanging off of the neck and saddle horn of a rearing horse, but his back is to the camera.

A couple are of he and my Dad, back when my Dad was a young military school punk. Their's wasn't the closest of relationships, as my grandmother and grandfather parted ways when my Dad was quite young, so there aren't many pictures of them together.

Then there are a few of him and his second wife, in his later years, including one of him in Hawaii, shirtless, wearing a grass skirt playing a ukelele.

There are a few others that I can't think of right now.

How am I supposed to pick only one???

Check out my grandpa!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873865/

[–] RabidRenaissance 19 years ago

A few days ago I ordered the 2-DVD set with comentary, and according to the commentator, Rudy Behlmer, two other stuntmen were apparently responsible for the castle gate scene.

I don't know if my dad misremembered something, or if grandpa got a little tipsy and boastful one night, or what. All I know is that my father had always relayed that scene as being the work of my grandfather.

I'd really like to correspond with Mr. Behlmer (who has provided commentary on many other films from this era, and also written many related books) if only to find out what specific resources he used for his comentary about the stunts. I would be more than thrilled to be able to substantiate some details of my grandfather's life and work.

On the bright side, being able to explore the DVD medium has allowed me to find some more screen time for my grandpa in the scenes surrounding the arrow shot to the chest. As Robin Hood is walked across the hangman's platform to have the noose slipped over his head, Grandpa Chad is clearly visible at the bottom of the screen in the foreground, sitting on horseback in front of the platform. It is at this location, from a tighter camera angle, that he takes the arrow shot on camera a few moments later.

The family resemblance between my grandfather and my brother is crazy, and makes it a bit easier for me to find him on the screen.

Check out my grandpa!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873865/

[–] Estriel 17 years ago

It's gonna be tough, but I guess if I were you, I'd try to choose the one that he would want hundreds of people to see and get to know as him- something that shows what he was really like, but kind of cool at the same time.

It's so cool that you know this! My grandfather worked for Ford in Swindon...Just not quite the same coolness factor, somehow... ;)

"Where has all the rum gone?" Jack Sparrow

[–] BrokenRogue 19 years ago

That's quality. You must get a right buzz when you see him. Photos of your grandparents when they were young is one thing but to see them on film and especially performing stunts - that must be amazing.
As you probably know (I think it's on here in the trivia section), stuntmen were paid $150 to be hit by arrows so I bet Grandpa Chad was laughing all the way to the bank when he pocketed that AND could see himself clearly on film.

I've got the Wisconsin Warner screenplay of The Adventures Of Robin Hood, published in the late 1970s where the introduction is written by Rudy Behlmer and it doesn't actually mention the name of the stuntman who doubles for the swinging up over the gate but with a bit of digging, you could find out for certain. This book is out of print now (in Britain anyway) but if you want to know more about the making of the film then Behlmer's text from the screenplay is also in his book "Behind The Scenes: The Making Of..."

If you've got the DVD then no doubt you've seen the outtakes where there are three versions of the portcullis stunt, two of which go wrong when the portcullis doesn't lower and then later when someone appears at the top of the wall so perhaps you can make your Grandpa out clearer seeing those?

Anyway, good luck with the research and I hope you do find a good photo to put on here.

Sorry if I've rambled a bit but I just wanna say, I've loved the film since I was a kid and to find someone, albeit online, who has a personal connection to it is astounding.

Regards,

John