Evening star., 1932-06-26
Stunt Men Of the MoUiies,
Wh0 Once Commanded
High Pay for Their
Work, Moe FindStndios
Besieged byYouths WhO
Are Wiling to Risk
TheirLiVes for FiVe
Dollars.

UT rates and bargain prices have
entered the field of film thrillers
Where once the daredevils of
Hollywood could ask, and get, as
high as SIS 900 for risking their VAL
liant necks to provide chills- Gown
the-back for screen audiences, inexperienced
youngsters are offering to gamble with death
for as low sum as S.
Half a dozen years ago. when Wings, the
first spectacular air picture, was being made,
the most skillful flyers in Hollywood organized
"The Thirteen Black Cats" among them
being Art Goebel Dick Grace, Frank Clark
Leo Nomis and Spider Matlock. The Black
Cats drew up schedule of prices to be
charged for various items of danger (Which
was submitted to and approved by producers
at that timel, as follows:
Crash two ships in air. ........ $1,000
Set fire to ship in air. .......... 2,0OS
Blow up ship in air, using powder,
not dynamite dynamite blows
out, is more spectacular and more
dangerouS) --....... ......- <,VVV
Fly ship into ground, side of
building or any object. ........ 1000
Make ship change. ge.....L....... 500
Ship to ship or motorcycle to
ship, speedboat to ship, automobile
to ship train to ship, etc. 500
Parachute pump single. ......... 200
Parachute jump, double. .......~ 800
Parachute jump, with dummy. $50
Crash motorcycle into any object. 1,500
Roll car any number of times. 1000
Today the remainder of the Black Cats
Uhere are but six alive since Leo Nomis went
crashing to death in a recent picture) will
accept SO per cent of these prices, If hired for
single stunts.
Novices. with no equipment save courage,
try to cut this rate. and many parachute
jump is made for SIS.
Sometimes there is collector for the $25
after the stunt is over
CPIDER MATLOCK who began his career Of
y screen daredeviltry by stunting for news
reels IL years ago and whose latest exploit
consists of skidding flaming car around a
curve and crashing it through concrete fence
at a track, tells tragic story.
In a recent film mede by an independent
company the action of the story called for
jump from the front of the wing of plane.
I asked $3.50 for this stunt, it's a ticklish
thing to do. Ordinary parachute jumps are
made from the back of the plane because the
ship will keep going ahead and get out of your
way and all you have to do is to step or fall
off the back end, pull the ring of your chute
and there you are.
For front jump you must dive swiftly to
get away from the ship, being sure not TO pull
the ring until there's no chance of the chute
catching on the ship but also pull it
enough to release the chute. This means per-
feet timing.
Tire company didn't want to pay so much
for one stunt. They had an ordinary pilot. who
knew nothing about manipulating his ship so
as to give the stunt man every chance and I
felt couldn't do it for less.
While we were discussing it. an extra man.
hardly more than kid, said he knew how to
jump and would co it fer $25. tried to explain
the difference between front and back leaps
and soon saw that he knew nothing whatever
about any kind of jump offered to give him
$25 if he wouldn't do it, since I knew the danger
involved, but he thought 1 was worried over
losing the job and only laughed at me-.
He couldn't dive. He had hold OF the para