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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/

[–] RabidRenaissance 18 years ago

A WB archivist has graciously dug through some dusty documents and is sending me all of the payroll records that could be found for Grandpa Chad, so hopefully I'll be adding more to his filmography soon!

Rudy Behlmer has also made some wonderful suggestions about how to best continue my research. He's such a nice guy.

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

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] JHBulls 18 years ago

I just checked out one of the other films your Grandad was in, Sergeant Murphy, and its amazing to know that he was in a film (all be it uncredited) with Ronald Reagen 43 years before he became president. Thats so cool.

[–] RabidRenaissance 18 years ago

Gradually adding more movies to his filmography thanks to payroll records from the WB archives. Some of the films he worked on aren't in the IMDB, but it continues to be quite the fun research project.

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

[–] RabidRenaissance 17 years ago

Just a quick update that I've FINALLY uploaded a picture to his site, and will continue to work on researching his Warner Bros. payroll records to add more films to his filmography.

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

[–] snowpatroler99 17 years ago

The stuntman who did the drawbridge stunt was Buster Wiles.
Buster also co-wrote a very good book (with Bill Donati) about his time with Errol Flynn.

"Yesterday on the stroke of three. I gave my faith and hope to charity"

[–] RabidRenaissance 17 years ago

I'll definitely check out the book. Thanks for the tip!

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

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] caymandj 17 years ago

Too cool.
Keep searching for stories about your Grand dad.

This was the first movie that I fell in love with an actor. Yup it was Errol but I wanted to look and be Olivia DH so bad.

This was the first film to see Trigger the horse. He is the golden horse Maid Marion rides away from Robin after dining with the merry men in the forest. The next movie Roy Rogers got to use him and bought him. His real name was Golden Cloud.

how is that for trivia.
caymandj

[–] sbrc-1 17 years ago

When I was a little girl, my father had me watch the movie with him. He pointed out all the scenes in which he did the sword fighting, horse riding and quarter-staff fighting. He told me how they had trampolines in the ground, which they used to jump up onto the horses. My father was Grant Leenhouts. He had been a surfer and life guard. He did the great sword fight on the stairs. Back then, stunt men did not get credit. And he was very upset when Flynn claimed he did all his own stunts.

When I watch the DVD now, I can recognize my father's profile and legs. My dad explained how they cut Errol in on the close-ups and just showed my dad's back in close shots, or if the face was shown, it was in a long shot. We have black and white photo studies the production crew took of my dad when they were casting him.

I love that my kids and I still have my dad on DVD, even though he died in 1971. You can look him up on IMDB. His history is not complete. He went on to make training films in the US Navy during WWII. Later, he was VP in charge of production for the original Cinerama. It feels good to put down the truth.

[–] RabidRenaissance 17 years ago

Very cool! Are you interested in fleshing out your father's page? I was very surprised to find that my grandfather's name was listed in the IMDB, and that he'd appeared on whatever cast/crew rosters that had been imported into the database for "Sergeant Murphy" and "Empty Holsters". Those were the only two listings on his page when I found it, and I've been trying to fill in the rest as I go along.

It seems sort of arbitrary as to the way record-keeping was done back in those days, or perhaps it is the method used to selected what is added to the database.

I wonder if your father and my grandfather knew each other? I'm working on some bio stuff based on newspaper articles and such that I've managed to find (with a lot of help from various internet acquaintances who love a good research challenge). After divorcing my grandmother, my grandfather married a costume/fashion designer, and I'm interested in researching her filmography and biography as well.

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

[–] MetFanMac 17 years ago

That is EXTREMELY cool.

Supermodels...spoiled stupid little stick figures mit poofy lips who sink only about zemselves.

[–] RabidRenaissance 15 years ago

Bumping out of curiosity if you've had any better luck in finding time to update your grandfather's page than I have, sbrc-1?

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

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] ZevII 13 years ago

<<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.>>

That's always been one of my favorite stunts in any movie. I always wondered who did it. Your grandfather did a great job.

[–] cwente2 13 years ago

Agreed! Musta had plenty of guts, too. I sure hope he got well paid for that stunt. I understand Flynn had lots of respect for his stunt stand-ins and hung out with them often.

[–] Blueghost 13 years ago

Very cool.