WE’LL NEVER KNOW WHY

         Anyone who has spent time working in the film industry understands that it can occasionally reveal a fascinating incongruity.  Well, here’s a good one for you.

         Did you know that in 1961 the great cinematographer George Folsey, ASC – recipient of the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award, holder of thirteen Oscar nominations and winner of an Emmy – also shot a 16mm drivers-ed film that was distributed to high schools throughout the country?  Titled, Anatomy of an Accident, it was part of the sub-genre that attempted to terrorize teenagers into safe habits behind the wheel.

         I suppose director Leroy Prinz did his best with the material he was handed, but its cheesiness damned him from the start.  And though lead players David Wayne and Phyllis Avery were long-time Hollywood mainstays, they did little more than embarrass themselves with their performances.  Worst of all, there’s nothing here to indicate it was photographed by the same guy who shot Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Green Dolphin Street (1947) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).  Maybe Folsey was conned into it by Jerry Fairbanks, whose production company cranked out dozens of these sponsored, non-theatrical films from the ’40’s through the ’60’s.  Bell Telephone picked up the tab for this one…and I still can’t imagine how Folsey ended up behind the camera while at the top of his career.

         If you’re interested in seeing it, consult the Prelinger Archive (www.archive.org/details/prelinger), a magnificent repository of this sort of lost Americana.  It’s certainly worth the giggle, if only you can avoid falling down the rabbit hole of amusing films like this one.

         Beside highlighting Folsey’s participation, Anatomy of an Accident did show one other significant trait: It was shot in Technicolor.  For such a meaningless little trifle, I found that a bit weird, too.  But hey, like I said at the top…incongruity.