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STUNTS, STARS & LEGENDS - October 2014

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II

Story: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), while vacationing, is alerted by the IMF that someone has used his identity to assist Russian bio-chemical expert Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich (Rade Serbedzija) of Biocyte Pharmaceuticals to enter the United States, but purposely crashed the commercial airliner en route. Nekhorvich, an old friend of Ethan, had forewarned the IMF of his arrival, planning to deliver a new virus called Chemera and its cure, Bellerophon, both of which he was forced to develop by Biocyte, into the IMF’s hands. With the crash of the plane, IMF is worried that the virus is out in the open, believing that rogue IMF agent Sean Ambros (Dougray Scott) is behind the incident. IMF assigns Ethan to recover it. Ethan is told that he can use two members of his team to help him, but the third person to help him must be Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton), a professional thief presently operating in Seville, Spain, as she will be able to get close to Ambros, being an ex-girlfriend of his.


After recruiting Nyah, Ethan meets his team, computer expert Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and pilot Billy Baird (John Polson) in Sydney, Australia, where Biocyte laboratories are located along with Ambrose’s headquarters. As Ethan and the others stake out Biocyte, Nyah gets close to Ambrose and begins to find any information related to the Chimera virus. At a horse racing event, Ambrose quietly meets with Biocyte’s CEO, John C. McCloy (Brendan Gleeson), and shows him a video of the Chimera virus affecting one of Nekhorvich’s colleagues taken from Biocyte, using the footage to force McCloy to cooperate with them. Nyah is able to steal the video footage long enough to transfer it to Ethan and his team, who learn that the Chimera virus has a 20-hour dormant period before it causes death through mass destruction of the victim’s red blood cells.


This is depicted through several increasingly graphic pictures, which show the victim dead after 34 hours. Bellerophon can only save the victim if used within the 20-hour window.


The IMF team kidnaps McCloy and learns that Nekhorvich had actually injected himself with Chimera, the only way he could smuggle the virus from Biocyte, and had all the known samples of Bellerophon, now presently in Ambrose’s hands. Ambrose has blackmailed McCloy to sell him the virus for $37,000,000 and promising to return the samples of Bellerophon. Ethan’s team plans to break into Biocyte and destroy the virus.


Ambrose, posing as Ethan, tricks Nyah into revealing Ethan’s plan. Ambrose secures Nyah and prepares to raid Biocyte himself to secure the virus. Ethan is able to destroy all but one sample of the virus before Ambrose interrupts him, and an ensuing firefight begins. Ethan learns that Ambrose is holding Hyah and stops firing, during which Ambrose orders Nyah to retrieve the last sample. When she does so, she injects herself with it, thus preventing Ambrose from simply killing her to get it. As Ambrose takes Nyah, Ethan escapes from the laboratory and starts a 20-hour countdown before the virus takes over Nyah’s body.


Ambrose opts to let Nyah wander the streets of Sydney in a daze, and orders McCloy to effectively hand over enough control of Biocyte to make him the majority shareholder, or else Nyah’s infection will cause an epidemic that will kill 17 million people in Australia alone; Ambrose’s plan is to make a fortune when prices of Biocyte’s stock skyrocket due to demand for Bellerophon. Ethan’s team is able to locate and infiltrate the meeting, stealing the samples of Bellerophon while taking out many of Ambrose’s men. Luther and Billy locate Nyah who has wandered to a cliff side, intent on killing herself to prevent Chimera from spreading.


As the two IMF agents bring Nyah to Ethan, he and Ambrose engage in a fist fight with Ambrose. With little time left on the 20-hour countdown, Ethan finally gains the upper hand over Ambrose and shoots him dead, and then Luther injects Nyah with Bellerophon. Ethan reports to IMF on the successful mission. IMF clears Nyah’s criminal record, and allows Ethan to continue his vacation with her in Sydney.


Stunts, Stars And Legends: Bob Terhune

Bob’s father, Max was in show business. He was a Western character actor who appeared in “The Three Mesquiteers” in the thirties and “The Range Busters” in the forties. This was when he worked with John Wayne. In 1935 Max received a wire from Gene Autry to come out to Hollywood because he had a part for him in a picture. He moved out there from Pierson, Indiana.


Bob attended school in Burbank and graduated in 1946 and then entered the Military service. His dad bought him a horse and when he was discharged, he started running around with some rodeo guys. He began rodeoing - bulldogging and steer wrestling. He did this for about six years. Some of the guys were working in the picture business as stunt performers. He was asked why doesn’t he join in? Finally, while still working rodeos, he started working as a stuntman. He injured both knees doing stunts, mostly in Westerns. When he popped out both knees, due to his rodeo jobs ... he finally said, “Well, that’s it.”


He quit rodeoing and went full-time into working movies ... that was in 1950.
It was around 1960 when someone doubling for John Wayne phoned Bob and asked him if he wanted to double Wayne.
It was on “The Greatest Story Ever Told” directed by George Stevens. Duke played the centurian. He became a his stand-in. So, Bob got to go to Spain to double Wayne in 1963. This was the year President Kennedy was assassinated.
When Bob returned from Spain, he went on doing stunts. In “Cahill, U.S. Marshal”, he doubled for Duke and again in one section of “How the West Was Won” on location at MGM.


I met Bob’s dad Max, in l959 when I brought my wife and 4 year old son, Don to Corriganville in Simi Valley, California, where they had weekend stunt shows re-enacting the life and times in the Old West. Max worked with “Crash” Corrigan in the “Three Mesquiteers” films and showed on weekends to meet the visitors, sign autographs and have his picture taken.
I worked with Bob Terhune in the Bake Shop scenes as one of the Bakers throwing 3,500 pies that took three days to film. It was “The Great Race”, starring Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, along with Peter Falk and many other famous actors. The barroom scenes took two weeks to complete, employing 60 stunt performers. Dave Sharpe (who was 57 years at the time) doubled for Tony Curtis.


Bob Terhune is an honored Inductee in the Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame as is Sharpe.


 

If interested in learning more about the Hall of Fame, please contact John Hagner (Founder) at 435 260-2160.
email: johnhagner@hotmail.com
Hall of Fame website: www.stuntmen.org

John Hagner (Founder) is also the Artist of the Stars.
His Celebrity Portrait Drawings are available at telephone 435-259-7000,
Mailing address: 50 W. 400 N, Moab, Utah 84532.
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