Stuntwork became a science when stuntman and technician Yakima Canutt left the rodeo to work in Hollywood westerns. Canutt perfected methods and designed mechanisms that made dangerous stunts safer and visually exciting. Many of Canutt's techniques are still used today by modern stuntmen like Hal Needham, Ronnie Rondell, and Paul Baxley. Directed by stuntman Hal Needham and starring "box office draw" Burt Reynolds, Hooper presented the stuntman as a rugged, fun-loving, almost suicidal superman. For the first time in film's short history, the stuntman and his craft became a topic of wide public interest. The stuntman had become "glamorous" almost rivaling his actor counterpart.