however Paul Newman did his own bicycle stunts after his stunt man was unable to stay on the bike the only one he didn't do was the scene where Butch crashes backwards into the fence which was actually performed by cinematographer Conrad L Hall the river jump was shot at 20th Century Fox's Century Ranch near Malibu California Paul Newman's and Robert Redford's stuntmen jumped off of a construction crane by Century Lake the crane was obscured by a matte painting of The Cliffs New and Redford start the jump in Colorado but only land on a mattress Paul Newman often kidded Robert Redford about his tardiness once suggesting that they should rename the movie Waiting for Lefty since Redford is Left-Handed Waiting for Lefty is a 1935 play by Clifford odets about a group waiting on the arrival of a man called Lefty who ultimately never shows up in the first previews the audience went wild with loud extended laughter which actually upset director George Roy Hill