MovieChat Forums > Private School (1983) Discussion > Riding Scene. There’s a stuntwoman and I...

Riding Scene. There’s a stuntwoman and I think I know her name.


Was a stunt woman used and if so, who was it?

First, at least three horses involving Jordan in seven horse shots were used in this scene. Horses varied in facial and leg markings (i.e., blaze, bald face, star, stripe, snip, length of stockings). Different horses were used by different people.

Which person is in which shot?

First Horse Shot – Jordan’s friend dismounting
Jordan is wearing a shirt with no sleeves and a thin belt – brown, metal on left side of buckle reflecting the sun.
This is clearly Betsy Russell.

Second Horse Shot – Betsy Russell gets on the horse and exposes her breasts.
The sleeveless shirt and the belt are the same.
Betsy Russell is riding at a walk. Most actors would probably not be able to ride at more than a walk.
This is clearly Betsy Russell.

Third Horse Shot – when Betsy the character pulls rips off Jordan’s shirt.
Can’t tell for sure who is riding Jordan’s horse.
The horses are moving at a trot.
There are many people and horses near Betsy and Jordan making it a bit of a tricky ride.
The shirt-ripping maneuver looks like something for stunt people.
The horses are at a trot rather than a canter to make it easier to perform the stunt.
I think that two stunt riders did this shot.

Fourth Horse Shot – Jordan is topless, Bubba is riding next to her.
It’s a long shot and you can’t see this rider’s face.
I don’t think this is Betsy Russell.

5th Horse shot – Close-up of Jordan from the top up.

So as not to offend anyone, I will not go into a long analysis of the breasts. But these are not Betsy Russell's breasts. This is more apparent if you compare Betsy Russell's in the beginning of this scene with the sideways shot of the breasts inside the shower stall at the beginning of the movie. I believe that the same body double/stunt person is in each scene.

This rider appears to be wearing a wide white belt on her pants.
The horse is at a canter, which adds to the beauty of the hair waving on this beautiful topless woman.
The helmet is gone and the hair is loose because it’s someone else in the scene.

The rider's jaw line at the chin is more horizontal and at the same time a little rounder than Betsy Russell's. Betsy Russell’s jaw is more pointed. See below in section about the stunt woman.
Although this rider looks like Betsy Russell, she’s not Betsy.

6th Horse shot – Jordan’s naked back to us
Can’t determine anything
The horse is at a canter again.
I don’t think this is Betsy Russell.

7th Horse shot – Jordan riding towards us topless
Can’t determine anything further.
The horse is at a canter.
Again, I don’t think this is Betsy Russell based on the fifth horse shot.

The demeanor of the rider, with her her beautiful dreamy smile, is different from Betsy Russell's expressions in the movie.

My conclusions this far:

1 - Betsy Russell was in the first two shots.
2 - A stunt rider performed the third shot.
3 - Someone other than Betsy Russell was on the horse in the fourth shot.
4 - The beautiful woman riding at a canter is the same stunt person in at least the last three shots.


Who is the stunt woman?

I believe that Jean Malahni is the beautiful woman in at least shots three, five, six and seven.

She’s listed in the credits under stunts in this movie. An article about her and a photo of her can be found at:

http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=interviews&Id=431

She has that rounder jaw. Look at Betsy Russell's jaw at:
http://talkingmoviezzz.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-ever-happened-to-betsy-russell.html

Now look at the jawline of the woman riding the horse topless:
http://members.moviesporno.com/ad/sexy-betsy-russell-ass1.htm

The article says that “Private School” was her first paid stunt. She fell off a horse during a fight. This part of the stunt may have been deleted at the end of shot three.

The article also mentions that Malahni has often been a nude double.
Her IMDB publicity page says that she was in the March 1995 issue of Playboy. She posed in a nude pictorial of stunt women.

And sorry guys, the difference in breasts are very apparent in the shower stall scenes at the beginning of the movie. I believe that is also Jean Malahni in the shower.

The riding scene was unbelievably seductive. It surely is one of the sexiest I have ever seen. And as is often the case, the stunt person’s name has not been associated with a famous scene. I can say that Betsy Russell and Jean Malahni will stay in my memory forever.

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I already did an analysis on your post titled Betsy did not do the nude shower scene. As I write this I'm watching the Horseback riding scene on DVD on a large screen HD TV. The opening scene has a stuntwoman jumping poles on the horse. Next shows Betsy's friend on a horse, getting Off the horse. Lying down on a blanket next to Betsy. Next Betsy gets onto the horse rides with her top opened wearing a hat and a thin tan belt. Next a still shot on the horse opening her top to expose her breasts.
Next is a side shot that you can't tell who it is wearing a hat.
Next is a back shot of most likely two stunt woman playing Kathleen Wilhoite and Betsy Russell as the shirt is pulled off while they are riding.
The next scene is probably a stunt man playing Michael Zorek "Bubba" riding beside Betsy or a stunt woman, this is a wide far distance shot so they probably used the same stunt woman. She has smaller breasts that Betsy Russell.

Then the scene that everybody loves The scene of Betsy Russell with her hair down and her large natural breasts bouncing, She is wearing a thick white belt and is fully topless. The scene was filmed on a different day as they had to do hair and makeup. Wardrobe made an error putting a white belt on her because she had a thin tan belt in an earlier scene. This scene could have been filmed before the other scenes were done. I'm sure many different horses were used and the scenes would have taken about 5 to 7 days to complete. anyone that knows what Betsy Russell looks like would know that is her. A stunt woman is used for stunts not close up face shots. also Betsy Russell has full natural large breasts that is why they bounce so much in that scene. If there was a stunt body double with a breast job (Implants) They would not bounce as much and they would not show her face close up. They would have shown Betsy's face only then the Nudity then back to her face in separate camera shots. This was not the case as her face was in the shots with the breasts. She did 5 other nude scenes in the movie. The Breasts in the shower scene could in fact be a body double because they look very large and they do not show betsy's face at the same time. The shower scene is filmed through a glass see through shower and is blurry. So it could have made the breasts look larger. The side view of the breasts do look like implants size DD. Betsy was a large C or full D cup. The shower scene does not match the natural breasts bouncing on the bareback riding scene. Because they are moving and bouncing. The scene where bubba pulls off her towel at the beginning of the film her breasts look very big. and the scene with the see through bra towards the end of the film her breasts look like a DD size, So it is possible that she did the nude shower scene after all she did 5 or 6 total nude scenes in Private School. Filming through glass could effect many things. All I know is Betsy Russell did the Nude Scene on the Horse First with the hat on, after the stunts where done, another bareback riding scene with her hair down. I checked the stunt woman mentioned on this post Jean Malahni in the March 1995 Issue of Playboy and that is not her in the close up nude scene on the horse. She has implants and does not look anything like Betsy Russell. Betsy Russell has a small cleft in her chin that you can see in the Bareback riding scene. Jean Malahni did a jump on the horse over poles, she is a stunt woman. They would not do a close up on her face and put in in the movie. That would not make any sense. Also Betsy Russell'S fiance producer Marc Burg talks about Betsy's Bareback riding scene on the Saw 4 Commentary DVD during one of her saw 4 movie scenes. The bottom line is Betsy did the Nude Horseback riding scene with and without the hat wearing two different belts. a stunt woman was used for a stunt and she had to be topless. The main close up scene with the breasts bouncing was 100% Betsy Russell.
Thanks...

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This is from an article that I read, with a quote from Betsy Russell.

I wouldn't take off my clothes for no reason," she declared. "But if the role is sexy, I'm going to give it everything I have!" Indeed. the New York Times reported that "Miss Russell went so far as to apply ice cubes to her breasts to prepare for the Topless Horseback scene"- a gorgeous gallop that inspires one elderly equestrienne to shout "That's the finest example of bareback riding I've ever seen!"

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If that's the same article, I believe it also reports that the first thing Betsy did at her audition was take off her shirt and ask "will these do"?

Sounds like a publicity story, but there ya go.

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