---
title: 'The Stunt Man (1980)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Richard Rush'
released: '1980-01-01'
runtime_minutes: 129
genres:
  - 'Comedy'
  - 'Action'
countries:
  - 'United States'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/the-stunt-man-1980'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081568/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# The Stunt Man (1980)

1980 · 129 min · Comedy, Action · United States


## Synopsis

The Stunt Man is a 1980 American satirical psychological black comedy film starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback and Barbara Hershey, and directed by Richard Rush. The film was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and Rush from the 1970 novel by Paul Brodeur. It tells the story of a young fugitive who hides as a stunt double on the set of a World War I movie whose charismatic director will do seemingly anything for the sake of his art. The line between illusion and reality is blurred as scenes from the inner movie cut seamlessly to "real life" and vice versa. There are examples of "movie magic", where a scene of wartime carnage is revealed as just stunt men and props, and where a shot of a crying woman becomes, with scenery, props and soundtrack, a portrait of a grieving widow at a Nazi rally. The protagonist begins to doubt everything he sees and hears, and at the end is faced with real danger when a stunt seems to go wrong.

## Credits

- **Director:** [Richard Rush](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-rush)
- **Screenplay:** [Richard Rush](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-rush), [Lawrence B. Marcus](https://cinepixo.com/people/lawrence-b-marcus)
- **Producer:** [Richard Rush](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-rush)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Dominic Frontiere](https://cinepixo.com/people/dominic-frontiere)
- **Director of Photography:** [Mario Tosi](https://cinepixo.com/people/mario-tosi)

## Cast

- [Barbara Hershey](https://cinepixo.com/people/barbara-hershey)
- [Steve Railsback](https://cinepixo.com/people/steve-railsback)
- [Phil Bruns](https://cinepixo.com/people/phil-bruns)
- [Peter O'Toole](https://cinepixo.com/people/peter-o-toole)
- [Alex Rocco](https://cinepixo.com/people/alex-rocco)
- [Gregg Berger](https://cinepixo.com/people/gregg-berger)
- [Sharon Farrell](https://cinepixo.com/people/sharon-farrell)
- [Patricia McPherson](https://cinepixo.com/people/patricia-mcpherson)
- [George D. Wallace](https://cinepixo.com/people/george-d-wallace)
- [James Avery](https://cinepixo.com/people/james-avery)
- [Allen Garfield](https://cinepixo.com/people/allen-garfield)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/the-stunt-man-1980
Film facts: Wikidata (Q726823); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.