The Devil at Your Heels
Encyclopedia
The Devil at Your Heels is a 1981 documentary that chronicles the attempt of stuntman and daredevil Ken Carter to jump a rocket-powered car over the St. Lawrence River—a distance of one mile, which would handily smash all existing records for jumping cars.
The documentary opens with some quick framing of the task, including footage of the ramp and the car to be used for the jump, and then chronicles how Ken Carter got his start as a daredevil, including footage of some early jumps. It then follows the ups and downs he experiences in his five-year journey to jump the river. He has a series of financial and technical obstacles. Technical problems include difficulties with the car (the fuel tank keeps blowing up) and the ramp he's planning to jump off (it's bumpy and not necessarily structurally sound). The financial problems are simpler; he keeps running out of money, and his backers are unhappy.
In the fifth year, everything is set, but two attempts are called off—one because of a short strike by the ground crew, and one because of weather (and perhaps because Carter loses his nerve). The backers, desperate to finish, believe that Carter has lost his nerve and call him to a meeting in another city, and then bring in another driver, Kenny Powers, to attempt the jump.
Unfortunately, the bumps in the ramp have not been fixed, and as the car accelerates, it starts to shake itself to pieces and falls apart in midair. The parachutes deploy and the car lands in shallow water—Powers survives with eight broken vertebrae (he later recovers fully). The effort to make the jump is abandoned.
The film closes with Carter vowing to continue trying. However, a few years after the movie was made, the ramp was demolished, and then Carter was killed in 1983 in Peterborough, Ontario
attempting another stunt.
The ramp and its runway were located in a field just west of Hanes Road, South of County road 2 in Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada. The ramp has since been demolished, but the concrete runway still exists as of 2010.
The title song was performed by bluesman Long John Baldry
.
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada
, The Devil at Your Heels won the Genie Award
for Best Theatrical Documentary.
The documentary opens with some quick framing of the task, including footage of the ramp and the car to be used for the jump, and then chronicles how Ken Carter got his start as a daredevil, including footage of some early jumps. It then follows the ups and downs he experiences in his five-year journey to jump the river. He has a series of financial and technical obstacles. Technical problems include difficulties with the car (the fuel tank keeps blowing up) and the ramp he's planning to jump off (it's bumpy and not necessarily structurally sound). The financial problems are simpler; he keeps running out of money, and his backers are unhappy.
In the fifth year, everything is set, but two attempts are called off—one because of a short strike by the ground crew, and one because of weather (and perhaps because Carter loses his nerve). The backers, desperate to finish, believe that Carter has lost his nerve and call him to a meeting in another city, and then bring in another driver, Kenny Powers, to attempt the jump.
Unfortunately, the bumps in the ramp have not been fixed, and as the car accelerates, it starts to shake itself to pieces and falls apart in midair. The parachutes deploy and the car lands in shallow water—Powers survives with eight broken vertebrae (he later recovers fully). The effort to make the jump is abandoned.
The film closes with Carter vowing to continue trying. However, a few years after the movie was made, the ramp was demolished, and then Carter was killed in 1983 in Peterborough, Ontario
Peterborough, Ontario
Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...
attempting another stunt.
The ramp and its runway were located in a field just west of Hanes Road, South of County road 2 in Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada. The ramp has since been demolished, but the concrete runway still exists as of 2010.
The title song was performed by bluesman Long John Baldry
Long John Baldry
John William "Long John" Baldry was an English and Canadian blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where Let the Heartaches Begin reached No...
.
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
, The Devil at Your Heels won the Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
for Best Theatrical Documentary.