This film is part of Free
Eddie Kidd
Stunt cyclist Eddie Kidd experiences the ups and downs of fame in this COI cinemagazine filmed at Beaulieu.
Overview
At the age of 18, stunt cyclist Eddie Kidd had already broken world records, been a stunt double for Harrison Ford and released a couple of singles. Yet this profile piece for the COI cinemagazine series “This Week in Britain” offers glimpses that his high life had both its ups and downs. A record-breaking jump of 24 cars was to be the big attraction of a May bank holiday at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu but torrential rain scuppered plans.
Kidd returned on the 4th June for a second attempt but with a shoulder injury that you see aggravated here, which prevented a planned second jump and again disappointed audiences. The person tasked with turning all these travails into a light-hearted snippet for overseas audiences was Peter Greenaway, who edited hundreds of stories like this before making arthouse feature hits such as The Draughtman’s Contract (1982). Special mention is due to motorcycle trial rider Sammy Miller from Belfast, who steadily rode his bike over 27 cars parked nose-to-tail at the same event before telling the 5000 spectators that it took more skill than jumping them.
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