Comments from The I Spy Forum continued
I've read some articles mentioning that our guys did some of their own stuntwork - others said they weren't allowed to do so ....
They
certainly did some throws of their own in "Time of the Knife" ... ouch!!!
and this is from "Cosby: The Life of a Comedy Legend" by Ronald L. Smith, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997
"They were a matched pair when it came to causing trouble, too. In one scene they were supposed to rush up a 20 ft. high wall and pretend to climb it. Then the stunt men would take over, do the actual climbing, race over the rooftop, and then jump down into a convenient alleyway.
"Well, the veteran track stars had other ideas. When they reached the wall, whispering suspiciously to each other, they not only took hold of the wall, but started climbing. The two athletes match each other stride for slippery stride, making it up the wall with amazing ease. The awed crew watched as Bobby and Cos ran the roof like real spies, skittered down slanted rooftops, and finally made their leap into the alley.
"They'd done it! Only the crew has been so surprised, not a second of it was caught on film.
"Sometimes Cos and Culp probably should've done the stunts themselves. There was the time two stunt men were ordered by producer Sheldon Leonard to hurry up and finish a scene that required a dive into the sea. Leonard found out they didn't know how to swim - "after they had followed my instructions and jumped into Hong Kong harbor ..."
and this is from that terrific StarLog Culp interview by Don McGregor
from The Greatest American Hero's ROBERT CULP - A Volatile Talent in the Electronic Wasteland by Don McGregor (StarLog No. 54, January 1982)
"During his days doing "I SPY," Culp not only wrote, directed, and acted in episodes, he also choreographed his own stunts. In one episode he fenced with samurai swords, in another he used Martial Arts techniques to take out guest villain Jack Cassidy. All of this was before Bruce Lee brought the martial arts to American consciousness. Culp does not pursue these elaborate stunts as fervently these days.
"I finished the fight yesterday, and by nightfall I couldn't even move. I'm not gonna do that stuff anymore," he says with good humor. "I'm 51 years old. Give me a break." He recalls some of those "I SPY" stunts. "Yeah, I used to do all that stuff till I was 35, and one morning I did this very elaborate stunt, series of stunts, swinging on a bunch of pipes on the backside of a yacht in Greece. It was really a great set of stunts. A lot of kips, walking on top, kicking guys over the side, jumping down. It was terrific. The following morning I couldn't get out of bed. I said, 'I'm 35, I'm through with this sh*t.' I stopped doing it after that.'"
Well, you can tell "Kelly" did some of his own stuntwork on those giant erector set beams in "Apollo" - you can clearly see his face - and then when a double is brought in to do some of the more precarious moves - the editing was very well done - very smooth (the DVD`s will have much better clarity to check out those great effects) ....
and we have previously discussed our Mr. Culp's fantastic pole-vaulting scene in "To Florence With Love" - it looks seamless - no cut-aways - that was a very, very COOL sequence!!! If they had a double in there, I couldn't see it - and Mr. Culp was a champion pole-vaulter in his youth.
Our Mr. Conway commented once about a "Cup of Kindness" (yes, yes, I am working on the "Archives - that's where I got these all from ....)
"But I could not see a stunt double in the fight scenes and I enjoyed the great athletic display with Kelly swinging from lights and throwing hammers.
I was impressed with Culp climbing that steel pipe in "This Guy Smith." I`m not sure what his age was when he did that (mid-thirties?), but I doubt if my upper body strength could have handled that when I was that age. Too many In-N-Out burgers! "
And those wonderful "kicking-in the door" sequences Kelly was so very adept at ... there was that adorable one where Scotty pantomimes drawing an "X" on the door for Kelly to aim at as he kicks it in ..... they even included one in "I SPY RETURNS" - and our Mr. Culp (the more mature model) showed the same skill and prowess kicking open that door as always ....
Billy Bob Rover :commented previously ...
"I am reminded of the tongue-in-cheek line from I SPY RETURNS, when they are contemplating some difficult physical feat:
Culp: "I am now, and have always been -- an athlete."
It may be the only truly "Kelly-esque" line in the film. "
As ever, Tatia
June 20 2003 at 5:12 PM
From: Bulwer-Lytton
What I particularly love about the episodes set in Italy is the easy grace Culp and Cosby bring to their exchanges: it's like they've fallen into the sweet spot in their connection and stayed there. They know each other so well by now that their performance together is seamless and a delight to watch. Sophia may be a lightweight compared to some of the more dramatic episodes, but it's I Spy through and through.
My favorite line from this one: "He doesn't kiss like an uncle."
Regards-
Bulwer-Lytton
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