Santa Monica’s Slapstick Comedy Cliffs

[John Bengtson]

Santa Monica’s Slapstick Comedy Cliffs – crazy, far more dangerous than hanging from a clock downtown. How did they do it?



Let us know if you can solve the mystery! Read more

https://silentlocations.com/2023/01/28/santa-monicas-slapstick-comedy-cliffs-how-did-they-do-it/

Thanks, John

[Steve Rydzewski]

Nice piece, John. There sure were a lot of hair-raising stunts back then.

But don't forget the studios wouldn't intentionally risk life or limb for art's sake.

Many stuntmen were involved and a lot of clever double-exposures & precise editing too.

- SteveR

[John Bengtson]

Nice piece, John. There sure were a lot of hair-raising stunts back then.

But don't forget the studios wouldn't intentionally risk life or limb for art's sake.

Many stuntmen were involved and a lot of clever double-exposures & precise editing too.

- SteveR

I appreciate your thoughts, but these scenes do not involve editing, nor to my eye any double exposure. The beauty of the building climbing stunts is that they required no camera trickery. They were simply filmed a few feet above a solid surface, showing a large drop at back. These cliff stunts show a large drop to the side. Where was the solid surface, the platform or plateau out of view, protecting the comics? I wonder if some lost “old-timer” interview might explain this.