CASTLE FILMS " A THRILL A SECOND " DARING STUNTS HUMAN CANNON BALL ARMY M2 TANK TESTS 85024

Made for the home market, this silent Castle Film "A Thrill A Second" was one of the releases in the "Sports Parade" series. It was based on a Warner Brothers series of the same name which ran in theaters prior to the feature. This film displays footage of cavalry and tanks maneuvering through obstacle courses, various water sport and water-skiing stunts as well as Navy cadet parachutists jumping from a blimp and a failed demonstration of a rocket powered life boat.

The film opens with the Naval Cadets jumping from a blimp by parachute (:26). The control car of the blimp (:30) as well as the Cadets within the airship (:34). Cadets begin leaping from the blimp (:40). As they touch down, ground forces run up to meet them (1:15). U.S. Army cavalry drills are then conducted as horses and riders run up and over hurdles (1:27) and down steep slopes (1:37). M2 Medium tanks are put to the test running over rocky ground (1:53). One tank is shot from underneath as it jumps over a natural hurdle (2:01). Slow motion footage follows as another tank stands nearly upright after going over an obstacle (2:04). Another tank tears through a wooden house (2:17) and others are seen moving down steep slopes (2:21). The rocket powered life saving boat is looked at next (2:44). Operators within the life boat are zoomed in on as the cover is slid over (2:48). It is then shot out into the water from a catapult as spectators look on (2:53). The rocket life boat fails and tips over onto it’s side as men climb out in life vests (3:15). The film turns to aqua stunts as speedboats zoom over the water (3:28) with water skiers riding flat boards (3:44). Another man water skis atop a contraption with two ladders attached to it which tips over into the water while in motion (4:00). One water skier takes a jump off a hurdle in the water and crash lands (4:13). A speed boat takes off over a jump (4:35). One woman takes a spill while riding over a bushy hurdle landing on the shoreline (4:47). “Bug-boats” then take a race through Washington’s Sammamish River (4:57). The boats are viewed taking turns within the marshy river waters (5:04) and going over small jumps (5:10). A stunt with a man known as the human arrow is depicted (5:37). The man is strapped to a long board (5:45) and catapulted out into the water (5:48). A man acting as a human projectile is seen standing atop a cannon with “Human Cannon Ball” written onto it (6:10). The stuntman then climbs into the barrel of the cannon (6:13) and is fired out (6:25). A small life boat arrives to pull the stunt man to safety (6:33). A woman is hoisted up onto a zip line for a “slide for life” (6:46). She clamps down onto a mouth guard (6:52) and is sent zip lining down and out over a watery expanse (6:57). A man then uses his six-month-old infant for rooftop stunts (7:21). The pair is seen 28 stories up above the streets as he spins and gently tosses the child (7:33). A man and woman walk across a tightrope from skyscraper to skyscraper as she sits on top of his shoulders (7:59). The pair is filmed as they reach the second skyscraper’s edge (8:21). Stock car race collisions are viewed (8:35). A multiple car collision is shown (8:55). Motorcycle stunts follow with one rider driving through a contraption set aflame (9:21). Junk car stunts are depicted with one car that has “Malicious” written across It (9:35). One of the vehicle crashes through a brick wall (9:42) and two other cars crash into one another (9:50). One stunt car and driver hit a jump at it’s corner and flips over (10:01). Another vehicle, part of the “Lucky Teter” Hell Drivers stunt show, jumps over multiple cars (10:47) and takes a spill after landing from the jump (10:55). Stunts are then conducted as a man holds onto ropes standing on the rear bumper of a vehicle as it takes off at 60 mph (11:08). He squats low to the ground as the vehicle is in motion and releases the ropes taking a dusty tumble on the ground (11:47). The film concludes (11:50).

The M2 light tank dates to the pre-war period. The most common model, the M2A4, was equipped with one 37 mm (1.5 in) M5 gun and five .30 cal M1919 Browning machine guns.

Earl "Lucky" Teter (1901 – 42) was an American stunt driver who pioneered and popularized the touring stunt driving show, performing until his death in a car stunt.

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