Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Spoiled movie star Linda Hayes meets her match in macho stuntman Kent Taylor when he tells her to "keep the noise down" after trying to get some rest after a plane crack-up. The shrew is not further tamed when her pet pooch hops into his car as he heads home, and she accuses him of kidnapping it. The studio head, torn between his top star and his top stuntman, pleads with her to drop the charges, but she refuses without a public apology. Taylor knows how to handle pampered divas and gives her the apology she wants, but without losing his own dignity. It's no shock that underneath her temperamental demeanor is a lady, and all she needs is to be taken down a level. But "Taming of the Shrew" this is not, and when they suddenly marry, she's scared of witnessing him being hurt (or worse) and pleads with him to give up his career which causes instant friction, especially when he tries (and quickly fails) an acting career of his own (opposite her no less), and almost ends up becoming the next Norman Maine in the process.Much better than expected, this Hollywood drama is aided by the presence of Howard da Silva as Taylor's best pal, a fellow stuntman who knows that Taylor will loose his will if he can't go on doing what he loves. They hang out in a bar called the Graveyard (ironic name for a bar that caters strictly to stuntmen) where the death of a stuntman means that the bar is closed for a night. When Taylor witnesses a stuntman's drive off a pier which leads the young man to fighting for his life, it's obvious that Hayes won't budge when allowing him to return to his profession, and when news of his fate comes into the Graveyard, it is truly an extremely profound moment.The conclusion is even more exciting, as a misunderstanding concerning Hayes and da Silva's sudden friendship (over concerns about Taylor's descent into possible alcoholism) causes Taylor to take drastic actions. The film takes the viewer into a world of movie making rarely seen on the screen and reminds the viewer that the star isn't the one jumping out of moving vehicles, flying planes into buildings or driving cars off of cliffs, that another person is risking their life in doing these tricks, and their story is one worth telling, even if this one has a definite element of soap opera attached.

Over in Trivia there is this little note: Actress Helen Twelvetrees sued, claiming that the film was based on her life story. She won her case. It would have taken a really bad lawyer to lose the case. RKO was on record of making the claim. On page six of the pressbook sent to the theatre exhibitors, there was a long publicity story , for use in local newspapers when the film was showing in their towns. It told of the many stunt men who were involved (in actual roles and stunts) on "I'm Still Alive." Mentioned were Allen Pomeroy. George Magrill, Cliff Bergere, Art Dupuis, Cy Slocom and several others. And, about half-way through the long ready-to-be printed (and it was) story was this paragraph from RKO's publicity department: "Strangely enough, every one of them is married, and most of them own their own homes. It is a fetish with these men who lead such hazardous lives to run no bills, to pay cash for everything they buy. They had fun on the picture which, they say, is based on a true story of one of their number, the romance a few years ago between the former star, Helen Twelvetrees, and stuntman Jack Woody."She might have overlooked it. if they hadn't called her a former star.

This is a rather light tale of a Hollywood stuntman that falls in love with a big name actress and still wants to pursue his risky career. The little women gives him a choice-the stunts or her. He chooses the stunts and still manages to get her. A nice inside look at how Hollywood wanted the public to think the movies were made, circa 1940.