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.

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 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.

It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Peter O'Toole), Best Director (Richard Rush), and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

She is the movie's leading actress, Nina Franklin, testing make-up for scenes set late in her character's life.

Cameron learns from Chuck, the stunt coordinator, and films a scene where he is chased across the roof of a large building and falls through a skylight into a bordello.

When a cop showed up, Cameron knocked him out, leaving his head freezing in a bucket of ice cream, resulting in an attempted murder charge.

Shortly after Paul Brodeur published the original novel, his Harvard University classmate Frederick Wiseman initially agreed to direct an adaptation but quickly departed the project.

[6] Rush spent the next several years unsuccessfully pitching both The Stunt Man and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), which he had optioned from Michael Douglas, to different studios.

Rush was finally offered several deals to finance The Stunt Man in 1976, but they collapsed after Warner Bros. Pictures began developing a similarly titled film called The Stuntman.

Trans World Entertainment agreed to finance the film and principal photography was planned to begin in San Diego on October 17, 1977.

[6] Peter O'Toole mentions in his DVD commentary that he based his character on David Lean who directed him in Lawrence of Arabia.

"[11] Pauline Kael considered it "a virtuoso piece of kinetic moviemaking" and rated it one of year's best films; she called O'Toole's comic performance "peerless".

[12] As of November 2023[update], the comedy drama film[13] held a 91% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 43 reviews.

The critics consensus states, "The Stunt Man is a preposterously entertaining thriller with a clever narrative and Oscar-worthy (nomination, at least!)

The second version is a limited edition (100,000 copies) containing everything from the standard release as well as the 2000 documentary The Sinister Saga of Making "The Stunt Man".