James Bond heard you! Skip 1 hour 42 minutes 23 seconds into the first movie to find out how

Do you ever watch a movie and wonder how the main actor does his own stunts? Well, unless it’s Tom Cruise or Jackie Chan, there’s a good chance it was stuntmen who knew them. And if sometimes the deception is obvious, at other times it is very convincing…

Almost all movies, especially action movies, use all kinds of tricks to help stuntmen do their job and intervene during difficult or obviously dangerous scenes. If today, with new technology, it is becoming easier and easier, in 1962 it had to be a little more ingenious, and James Bond 007 vs. Dr. No, the first of the James Bond film series, was EON Productions and used “Texas”. Switch” to bring in his stuntmen to replace Sean Connery and Ursula Andres in the scene that has become iconic.

“Texas Switch”

But what is a “Texas switch”? This is a technique used when a character performs an elaborate stunt that invisibly transitions from the lead actor to the stuntman through clever staging and camera movements.

Performing the “Texas Switch” requires careful blocking and camera movement. The goal is to make sure that the scenes have moments where the camera is ahead of the actor to make a change, or scenes where he’s running behind something to make the change happen in that location. This requires careful collaboration and planning between the director, cinematographer and stuntman.

The result makes action movies feel more real, and the technique keeps the audience invested in the story so that it retains its authenticity.

This is what happens in 1 hour 42 minutes and 23 seconds James Bond 007 vs. Dr. No. As you can see in the video below, these are all firsts Sean Connery and Ursula Andres which runs across the docks before being replaced by a double as they pass through a wall formed by judiciously placed oil drums on the pier.

These kinds of practical stunts are therefore what end up in larger-than-life movies.

Another example of the Texas Switch?

For example, during a rooftop chase scene on the set of Aquaman (2018), Amber Heard’s character has to run across tiles while dodging shots. Although the film is shot against a blue background, director James Wan wanted to maintain the integrity of the story and visuals, so he resorted to the “Texas Switch” (when he goes behind the pillars), as seen in the post below:

Discover the director’s explanations in the video below:

But James Bond was already doing it in 1962 and to perfection. We can only applaud the ingenuity.

James Bond 007 vs. Doctor No is back on VOD.