Spring 98 Volume III Issue 2

Harry Humphries is a tall, solid, bear of a man. Silent. Calm. Unassuming. An American hero, in the truest sense of the word. I first met Harry at the premiere of The Peacemaker, where he was dropping the names of some pretty nifty cigars (Davidoff, Montecristo, Cohiba) as people around us were dropping the names of Hollywood aristocracy (Spielberg, Clooney, Kidman). When I asked about his connection to the film, Harry told me he was a technical advisor. My interest was peaked. "What's a technical advisor?" I asked. "I'm the person who makes sure the actors hold the guns correctly and stuff like that," he answered, a 'no big deal' tone in his voice.

I remember thinking, there certainly must be more to what he does than that, or he wouldn't have been the guest of the film's screenwriter, Michael Schiffer. After the film, Harry and I briefly discussed humidors, and then returned to the subject of technical advisors. "A tech advisor is like the technical conscience of the writer, producer, and director of a movie," he said. Then he added, with a huge grin, "Whether or not they listen to their conscience is another matter altogether."

Later I found out that what qualified Humphries to give Hollywood this guidance was his military background. To begin with, he was selected for one of the first elite Navy SEAL team operations (Team 2); he was highly decorated for rescuing civilian nurses from a Viet Cong-held town in South Vietnam (his operations in Cambodia were classified); and he is one of the world's top security specialists, with a focus on anti-terrorist measures. In other words, a good guy to have in your corner!

Still waters run deep; most truly heroic and confident individuals never talk about their deeds. Harry is no different. The SEALs call this "Silent Pride." Feeling instinctively there was much more to this man than he let on, I set out to get a clearer picture. What I first uncovered, regarding his film career, was that The Peacemaker was not Humphries' first film. In fact his film credits are almost as impressive as his military accomplishments - they include The Rock, with Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage; GI Jane, with Demi Moore; and Con Air, teaming with Cage again. Humphries is currently working on three films in various stages of production or development, as well as the syndicated television series "Soldier of Fortune, Inc." Beyond this, I discovered an extremely humble person - a protagonist individual Hollywood loves to immortalize on film; a man who will probably cringe when he reads this article. Still, to tell his story, the entire story must be told.

We caught up with Harry on the set of "Soldier of Fortune, Inc.", the show which currently employs and enjoys his watchful eye - and is just one of Humphries' many day jobs. On set, Harry was doing his thing, almost attached to the right elbow of director Peter Bloomfield (who previously worked with Harry as second unit director on Con Air). As they studied the movements of the cast in the monitor, Harry closely watched the stealthy method the actors used to walk through a dangerous situation, and he was pleased. "Cut."