Steve Railsback

For Eli Cross (Peter O’Toole), the auteur theory is woefully inadequate, godhood being the only status comparable—in his view—to that of a film director with an unorthodox approach to stunt casting.

I’ve had Paul Brodeur’s 1970 novel on my shelf for over a decade—and its time will eventually come—but just over a year ago, I rewatched The Stunt Man (1980)—on the occasion of screenwriter-director Richard Rush’s death, and it was no less a marvel of smoke and mirrors than when I first saw it on Anchor Bay’s splendid DVD release 20-odd years ago, right around the time they issued The Wicker Man (1973), as it happens.