WICKED, WICKED (1973)

         In a lifetime of tripping over weird movies, this one is perhaps the weirdest of them all.  Currently streaming on Amazon Prime, it’s not the hokey plot, Richard L. Bare’s ham-fisted direction, the terrible acting, cheesy sets or original organ score from the 1925 version of Phantom of the Opera that wrecked it for me.  No, it was the fact that this thing was shot in a process called Duo-Vision.

         Now, don’t go running for the reference books to learn about an optical system you’ve never heard of.  It’s not a technical process.  Instead, it’s pure hype inspired by the fact that the entire movie is presented in split-screen.  While that might sound interesting at first, it doesn’t enhance the harebrained narrative about murders in a seaside hotel one bit.

         I can only imagine the challenges cinematographer Frederick Gately, ASC and Script Supervisor Cleo Anton must’ve encountered during production.  Both sides of the screen were photographed independently of one another.  As things unfold in real time, the left image was meant to inform or expand upon the action taking place in the right image – and vice versa.  None of that worked with any effectiveness.  After ten minutes of being distracted and confused, it got me thinking: How do you explain something like this in a pitch meeting?  It’s a shame somebody figured that out, but it was the ’70’s, after all.

         Not much is known about Gately (1909-1988).  His career began in features during the early ’40’s but he did most of his work in television, starting in the ’50’s.  Probably best known for Father Knows Best (48 episodes; 1955-60) and Hazel (145 episodes; 1961-66), he did himself no favors with the camerawork on Wicked, Wicked.  It has the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie, which was the cheapest currency of the day.  I’m not being too hard on him; we all have things like this in our closets.  But the length of Gately’s resumé indicates he was doing something right.  He also appears to have been an understanding boss.  I’ll let my colleague Gregg Heschong, ASC close with an anecdote from early in his career…

            “As a very inexperienced operator, I had the opportunity to take over the A-camera on the television series Trapper John, M.D.  I met Fred Gately, ASC the day I started work. One of my first setups was a very complicated crane move, which required rotating the turret in sync with the Panahead.  I became so involved with framing that I did not realize my left foot was slowly locking the turret, ruining the final composition.  They printed the take.  Fred was a true gentleman at dailies and I lived to see another day.”