Below is a transcript of the introduction and Q&A prior to The Gauntlet screening which Marneen and I presented at the Astor Theatre last Wednesday, followed by some great photos taken on the night by the talented Kynan O'Meara . A great night that seemed to be well-enjoyed by those who attended. We are both looking forward to doing more special events in the near future. Thanks again for those who came along!
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Good evening everyone, and thank you all for coming out tonight. Hope you all enjoyed Enter the Dragon…how cool is it seeing Bruce Lee doing his thing up there on that beautiful big screen?
My name is John Harrison, I'm a film journalist and historian and I'm here tonight to introduce the second film on our double bill, which is Clint Eastwood’s fast-paced and over-the-top comic book action film The Gauntlet, which Clint both starred in and directed in 1977, when his fame and on-screen charisma was perhaps at its highest point. Coming off his highly successful Italian westerns and Dirty Harry films, The Gauntlet can be seen as something of a predecessor to all those outrageous but hugely entertaining action films starring the likes of Arnold Schwarzeneger and Sylvester Stallone that became so popular with audiences in the 1980s, where the heroes were human but larger-than-life and seemingly indestructible, facing insurmountable odds and thousands of bullets and emerging not only unscathed but often with a sly grin and a clever wisecrack or two.
I remember first watching The Gauntlet on television when I was growing up, and then later on home video, and the one scene I always waited for in anticipation was the big fight on the moving goods train, where Eastwood, playing boozed-up and down on his heels Phoenix cop Ben Shockley, punches a female biker in the face, knocking her off the moving train and onto the rough Arizona turf. The scene was startling for two reasons – it was rare to see a male character punch a female square in the face, and secondly it was clear that the fall from the train was genuine, and not something achieved with wires, rear projection or clever editing. The authenticity of the stunt made it so much more exhilarating and jaw-dropping to watch. Little did I know at the time that years in the future I would not only be interviewing the lovely lady responsible for performing this thrilling stunt, and co-writing her upcoming autobiography Cartwheels & Halos, but would end up being lucky enough to marry her! So here to provide some insight into performing one of the most dangerous stunts ever captured on film by a young stunt woman in 1977 performing the jump off the moving train on The Gauntlet, I’d like you to give a big round of applause and welcome to the Astor stage, actress, singer, composer, writer and pioneering Hollywood stuntwoman, once coined "Hollywood's Original Fall Girl," the amazing Marneen Lynne Fields!
John: Marneen, thank you so much for joining us here tonight. A huge thrill to have you along for this screening of The Gauntlet.
Marneen: Thank you Darling, I'm thrilled to be here.
John: Before we get into the film itself, can you start by giving us a brief rundown of how you actually ended up in the stunt-acting field?
Marneen: I was a Class One advanced all-around gymnast studying Theater Arts at Utah State University who was ranked 3rd in floor exercise and 5th in balance beam in Nationals. My older brother Bobby Fields met stuntman Paul Stader (Cary Grant's Stunt Double) who owned a stunt school in Santa Monica that I joined. I was in the right place at the right time to break as a young stunt girl with my gymnastics, and land roles as an actress with my theater training.
John: The Gauntlet I believe was only your second film, after the TV movie The Spell. How did you specifically land the job on The Gauntlet?
Marneen: Actually, I'd just finished performing some big stunts on the small screen for Paul Stader on the hit TV series "Man from Atlantis" starring Patrick Duffy, when Clint Eastwood's stunt double Buddy Van Horn called Paul Stader to ask if he knew of a stunt woman who could do a jump off a moving train? Paul Stader told Buddy I was one of the only stunt girls he know who could do the stunt without injury.
John: Tell us a little about how you prepared for such a daring stunt? How long did you have to prepare for the stunt? And how long did you spend on the set filming the sequence? I believe it was shot out in the desert in Arizona?
Marneen: Yes, the train sequences were shot in Arizona. I worked about a week and a half in Arizona on the movie, and I had about a week to prepare for the stunt. After I accepted the job over the telephone and was hired, the stunt coordinator told me that told after my jump off the train I'd be landing in some sand. In the old days many stunts were performed by falling into sand to cushion the falls. I came up with the idea to go down to a playground at a beach in Ventura where there were swings I could stand on. I practiced day after day swinging on the swings to get air bound, then jumping off the swing into the sand and rolling. It was gritty, sand in my pants and shoes and all, but it seemed like a great way to prepare for this stunt.
John: So tell us a little about the execution of the stunt itself. I imagine it must have been pretty nerve-wracking? You wore little protection, since your character had a skimpy sleeveless top.
Marneen: For this scene not only did I wear a skimpy sleeveless vest, but I also had a thick curly long dark wig pinned tightly to my head to match Samantha Doane's hair. Back in the primitive days of stunt work like this both men and women wore boys padded football girdles, knee pads, and elbow pads under their clothing for protection and to help cushion their falls. Of course in this scene I couldn't wear any elbow pads since my arms were bear. Thinking back it's a miracle that I walked away from this stunt without any bruising or scratching on my arms from the high speed roll across the sand and the tumbleweeds I ended up rolling into.
John: I imagine having to jump in that thick wig would have made things a little tougher, especially the thought that it might come loose and block your vision during the jump. One thing I think the audience might be interested in is hearing about is the combination of motion and gravity which you talk about in the book.
Marneen: Great, as I'd love to share this information. Studies have been done that prove the weight of the object times the speed it's traveling will reveal the force upon impact. In stunts, like in any kind of accident, they can be broken down into the basic laws of physics, like what goes up must come down, and some predictibity can be applied to the scenario. In this stunt as soon as I left the train carriage I was popped up into the air (something completely unexpected), and my body was carried along with the train at the 5 miles an hour speed the train was going. Once the gravitational force field carrying my body along side of the train left me, my body dropped like a sack of potatos at full speed, I hit the sand at hundreds of pounds, my weight times the speed I was traveling, and I was thrown into a whirlwind high speed, head over heals, out of control roll across the sand, nearly into a ditch until the tumbleweeds broke my spin and brough me to an abrupt stop!
John: You must have been thinking thank God that was a tumbleweed, and not a cactus.
Marneen: (Laughs) However, the more frightening part was during the moments where I was being carried along with the train, at those moments, my body was completely out of control and flailing, and I was scared to death. I'd been warned by the stunt coordinator that if I didn't force my body to keep traveling the direction the train was going that I could be easily be thrown back under the train wheels and crushed to death. That's what makes this stunt one of the most dangerous stunts ever performed by a young stunt girl at that time in the history of filmmaking.
John: Another thing that I think makes the stunt look especially scary is the fact that you had to have your back turned to the carriage doorway, so in essence you wouldn’t have known exactly where you were leaping out and what you were leaping out onto until you made the turn to execute the actual jump. It must have felt like you were jumping almost blind?
Marneen: First I wanted to mention, I watched props bring in a small wheel barrell of sand and spread it around the spot I was to land in. I even saw them toss an old rusty coke can onto the sand along with some tumbleweeds to make where I'd be landing look authentic. Do you know my body just missed landing on that old rusty coke can? I could have been cut to Smithereenes and bled to death had I hit it.
John: And of course, this was when Coke cans were still made of hard tin and not the softer alluminium, so if you had hit that can in the wrong place or the wrong angle it could have done real damage.
Marneen: That's right. To answer your question John, you're absolutely correct. As you see when the scene starts my back is to the open doorway of the cargo train. As soon as Mr. Eastwood punched me, I had to react to the punch, then I stepped backwards and pushed myself out of the train carriage, the first half of the stunt was completely blind. I had to perform a half twist in mid air at the exact moment the unexpected was happening, my body was being popped up into the air by the gravitational force field and weight of the moving train, and there was nothing I could do about it. Immediately I was flailing out of control and flying, being pulled along side of the train and traveling 5 miles an hour. I remember struggling with all my might to position my out of control body to travel the same direction of the train so I wouldn't get thrown back under the train wheels. I saw my life flash before me, I honestly thought I was dead, then splat! I hit the ground with tremendous force and was thrown into the high speed tail spin until the tumbleweeds brought me to the abrupt stop.
John: Now I believe after you had completed the stunt you were laying there in the sand and you you looked up and saw the train being reversed, the Clint jumped out and ran up to you and gave you a hug and complimented you on a job well done?
Marneen: As soon as I heard cut and looked up, it was amazing to see the train I had just jumped off of rolling backwards and stopping. Then I saw Clint Eastwood hop out of the train run over to where I was, pick me up, give me a hug, tell me loved it, and ask me if I was okay. It was an awesome moment and made it all worthwhile.
John: Apart from doing the train stunt, you also doubled for Samantha Doane during the fight inside the train carriage, and also appeared briefly as another of the female bikers seen in the film.
Marneen: Yes, I'm the girl inside the train carriage slugging Clint Eastwood in the stomach and kicking him in the groin when he's tied up against the wall. Not many girls can say they got to beat up on Clint Eastwood. However, as you've heard in motion picture fighting you pull your punches so as not to make hard contact and hurt the person, something I learned at the stunt school. I also rode on the back of one of the motorcyles in some scenes playing a biker chick but not sure if any of them made it into the final film.
John: I guess the big question a lot of people here want to know is, what was Clint like to work with at the time? It must have been a thrill seeing him in action both as an actor and as a director during his early days behind the camera.
Marneen: He was brilliant and amazing to work with. So focused and so calm and in control. I had no fear standing next to him. He went over my stunt and showed me exactly what he wanted me to, and I followed his great direction. How I wish I could have continued to work for him through the years. He remains one of my favorite filmmakers today.
John: What are your memories of seeing your stunt on screen for the first time? It must have been exciting to see it featured in so much of the films advertising and promotion.
Marneen: It was truly one of the most exciting times of my life, and why I'm so thrilled you, Zak Hepburn and the Astor Theater created this unique opportunity for me to share my memories of this exhilarating and highly dangerous stunt. I called Malpaso Productions last week and left a message for Clint Eastwood sharing my awesome news I'd be talking about the stunt and working with him at tonight's event for the first time in my career, 39 years after filming it. The first time I saw the stunt on the big screen in the theater the audience applauded after my jump off the train, and it makes me smile today remembering that great moment, along with seeing my name in the credits and my stunt being featured in so many newspapers, and press releases etc.
John: You have an interesting story to tell about being called into the Malpaso Productions office to collect some stills of your stunt after the film had been completed….
Marneen: Clint Eastwood's producer and childhood friend Fritz Manes called one day and said he had photos of my stunt at the Malpaso Production Office at Warner Brothers Studios and to come by and pick them up. When I knocked on the door, Clint Eastwood answered and I was alone with Mr. Eastwood in the room for about ten minutes as he handed me the envelope of photos and complimented me on a great job.
John: Finally, where does The Gauntlet fit in the overall scheme of your career? I imagine you must consider it one of your early high points, and would have led to you getting a lot more work in the stunt arena, both in films and on television?
Marneen: The Gauntlet was my first feature film and it was a wonderful opportunity that launched my stunt career over night. It brought me much respect and many more jobs. Working with Clint Eastwood in a scene as amazing as this one was a real honor for a young stunt girl, just as being invited to the Astor Theater this evening to talk about the stunt with you Darling.
John: Marneen, it has been a pleasure having you here tonight to share some of these unique insights into the making of this movie. We should mention that after the screening, you will be in the upstairs lobby if anyone wants to come up and say hello, snap a photo and grab a free signed postcard, as well as look over the table of cool vintage memorabilia from the film which we have bought along with us. So thank you once again, and we hope you all enjoy the movie!
