The Stunt Man

By Carol Cling
Review-Journal

      Faster than a speeding bullet? Not quite.
      More powerful than a locomotive? Guess again.
      Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?
      Even if he could, he'd crash on the way down.
      Yet when it comes to fighting for truth, justice and the American way, Superman has nothing on Super Dave Osborne. The death-defying daredevil has survived hundreds of inevitably ill-fated stunts with his spirit and showmanship intact. (If only we could say the same for Super Dave's skeletal system.)
      And while Superman had Metropolis as a staging ground for his superhuman exploits, Super Dave has Las Vegas.
      Glitter City provided an appropriately splashy backdrop for the 1994 cable TV series "Super Dave's Vegas Spectacular," which was based at the Rio.
      But Super Dave's recent return to Las Vegas represents a new phase in his storied career: a big-screen adventure titled (at least for now) "Be the Man ... Super Dave."
      Scheduled for release July 31, "Be the Man ... Super Dave" spent three of its 37 shooting days on location in Las Vegas last week.
      "We're almost doing it live," deadpans Super Dave -- or, more precisely, his creator and alter ego, Bob Einstein -- during a break between scenes at the MGM Grand.
      Just minutes before, Einstein had been all affable smiles and superstar largesse as the jumpsuited Super Dave strolled through the casino adjacent to the Wolfgang Puck Cafe, radiating inspirational humility as he greeted eager autograph seekers, make-believe TV reporters, sequined showgirls and cheering craps players.
      Next up: a typically challenging Super Dave stunt, requiring him to crash through the window of his customized bus, thanks -- or no thanks -- to the hapless driving of sometime sidekick Ray Charles, who's been blind since childhood.
      "He has earphones and I'm guiding him," Super Dave says of Brother Ray's amazing ability to drive.
      Charles himself wasn't at the MGM Grand, having completed his scenes the night before at the Fremont Street Experience, where he drove the "Super Dave 2000 World Tour" bus along the light-bedecked pedestrian mall. (And, presumably, missed the mock turn-of-the-millennium light show staged for the movie -- "the most beautiful set I've ever seen," Einstein enthuses.)
      A guest on Super Dave's first TV show, Charles has been a recurring character in the Super Dave saga ever since -- including the inaugural installment of "Super Dave's Vegas Spectacular."
      Charles has always been loyal to Super Dave, Einstein says. "And he has a great time."
      You could say the same for the rest of the Super Dave gang, from stunt coordinator Fuji Hakayito (played by Art Irizawa) and announcer Mike Walden to assistant Donald Glanz (Don Lake, who collaborated with Einstein on the movie's story line).
      All of them make the jump to the big screen in "Be the Man," reflecting the heart and soul of the movie, according to Super Dave himself.
      In the beginning, however, Super Dave had neither heart nor soul.
      "He was a human sight gag" when Super Dave arrived in the late '70s, while Einstein was writing, producing and appearing on such variety shows as the Emmy-winning "Van Dyke and Company" and "The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour." (Einstein also worked on such hits as "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" and "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," where he played the irascible Officer Judy.)
      "The first time Super Dave really became Super Dave was on `Bizarre,' " a 1980 cable comedy series hosted by John Byner, Einstein recalls.
      A "five-minute creation" who appeared "every third week," Super Dave gave Einstein a chance to get out of the studio, he notes.
      Super Dave also gave Einstein a chance to spoof "people in the arts and from the sports world pontificating" on TV talk shows. As they gushed about their latest projects, "you knew, deep down, that they didn't feel that way at all," he says.
      Yet as Super Dave continued his crash-and-bash exploits on "Bizarre" and "The Super Dave Osborne Show," which began a five-season cable run in 1988, the dauntless daredevil not only developed a following but a personality.
      "He became a character -- he had a soul," Einstein notes. Not to mention "a Laurel and Hardy relationship with his buddies" that has contributed to the character's popularity.
      Although Super Dave has never been on a network, says "Be the Man" producer Larry Brezner, the character has a core base of fans who follow his exploits. "They're like soap-opera fanatics."
      With Super Dave's leap to the big screen, however, both Einstein and Brezner hope to expand that fan base.
      Einstein describes Super Dave's movie debut as "a real riches to rags to riches story," which finds the star-spangled hero drawn out of reluctant retirement to raise money for an operation that could save a little boy's life.
      "It's a cute story -- and enough of a story to take us through the ride," says Einstein, who's credited for "Be the Man's" screenplay, along with Lorne Cameron and Dave Hoselton.
      Directing is veteran Peter MacDonald ("Rambo III," "Mo' Money"), whose credits range from second-unit director on "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Batman" to camera operator for such classics as "Cabaret" and "Superman."
      As for Super Dave, Einstein had a deal to bring the character to the big screen a few years ago, but opted to keep Super Dave on television until he and his colleagues had a suitable script to show studio officials.
      "Fortunately, somebody at MGM was a Super Dave fan," Brezner says. "We hit the right people at the right time."
      The MGM connection also helped when the production began scouting Las Vegas locations, the producer adds.
      "There are just some things that have to be (filmed) at the place -- you can't just re-create them," Brezner says, gazing across the casino floor packed with costumed extras waiting for Super Dave's next appearance.
      Las Vegas has played a major role in "Be the Man" since the first draft of the script, which has changed since work began on Super Dave's movie debut, according to Brezner. ("The original script had something like a jewel heist," the producer recalls.)
      Regardless of the situation, however, Las Vegas and Super Dave make an ideal match, Brezner maintains.
      "It's flashy, shiny, showy -- and that's what Super Dave is about," he says. And while Super Dave may be "humble -- he doesn't boast a lot -- he's a showman first and foremost."
      In addition to the wide range of visitors it attracts, Las Vegas provides an ideal setting for Super Dave, in Einstein's view, "because the ambience and the excitement is built in -- you don't have to create anything," he notes.
      "When you come to Las Vegas, you know you're not going to be disappointed," Einstein continues. "It's like going to New Orleans -- and it's Mardi Gras every night."
      Einstein's enthusiasm for Las Vegas contrasts with a slightly more cynical view expressed by his brother, actor and filmmaker Albert Brooks, whose 1985 satire "Lost in America" includes a devastating depiction of casino greed.
      Then again, Einstein is working too hard on "Be the Man ... Super Dave" to spend much time at the tables.
      "I'm not a bettor," he says, "except with my life!"
      And in "Be the Man," Super Dave is gambling more than ever before.
      The movie features 32 stunts -- or, as Einstein points out, "32 mishaps -- enough to make the audience laugh."
      The goal may be slapstick humor, but "just because it's comedic, you still have to know how to shoot a stunt," producer Brezner says. "It doesn't matter if it's funny or not funny, it's still a stunt."
      "It's hard to do these physical gags," Einstein points out. "It's not a joke."
      Especially not to the deadly serious Super Dave, who perpetually fails to see the humor in his endless quest to emerge unscathed from his death-defying heroics.
      The source of Super Dave's eternal optimism remains a bit of a mystery, even to his creator.
      Despite his dismal track record, Super Dave "always believes this is going to be the magic moment" -- until disaster strikes once again, Einstein notes.
      And if Einstein has his way, Super Dave will continue his bone-crunching exploits well into the next millennium.
      "I can't think of anything more fun to play," he says of his comic alter ego. "I can do and say things with Super Dave I can't do with any other character."