I remember seeing a film of a clown (or comedy performer of some kind) who wore really long shoes and could lean over forwards almost parallel with the floor. The soles of the shoes looked to be quite springy (I think the film was a bit old for it to be fibreglass, so probably plywood or even sprung steel).
I’ve been trying to find out who it was, but I have no idea and couldn’t find anything in a quick search. From what I can remember about the clip I saw, I’d guess it was probably 1920s or 30s, but I may be wrong on that.
Thanks - that wasn’t really the trick I’m thinking of though. The bloke I’m thinking of had really long shoes (a couple of feet long at least, possibly longer), and would fall forwards and sort of “swoop” back up just before his face hit the floor. Hard to explain… wish I could remember who it was, or even where I saw the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4wEaEuLTwM&feature=related
is similar to what I’m thinking of, but not quite the same. I’m sure the one I’ve seen was done with bendy soles, so the action was more of a “swoop” down and back up rather than a lean.
I want to say it’s Buster Keaton, based on a dim childhood memory of a “Best of Life” photo. But I just ran an internet search on him and couldn’t find that image. A couple of “leaners”, but not the big lean I remembered. I might have the wrong guy, but it was from that era of early vaudeville, silent films, etc.
It’s been replicated since in more modern films, but with technical assistance.