Lucky Devils (1933)

(On Cable TV, December 2022) While Hollywood was already a fixture by the early 1930s, it was still very much the Wild West in some aspects of the craft. Which makes Lucky Devils a rather exciting take on stuntmen at work, at a time when safety didn’t always register as it does now. Written by stuntman Bobby Rose, and executed with some lavish use of the RKO back lot, the film is a blend of basic characterization (stuntmen as thrill seekers), elementary romance and as many dangerous-looking stunts they could fit in the film’s scant 70 minutes running time. Don’t expect much in terms of plot—but the stunts are quite good, and the atmosphere of rubbing elbows with stuntmen at a time when this was a profession that attracted mercenary daredevils is rather fascinating. I’m always amazed that there aren’t more movies about stuntmen, but pair Lucky Devils with near-contemporary The Lost Squadron, or the later Stunts (177) or Hooper (1978) and you’ll have a good overview of the field.