The Wizard of Speed and Time (1988)

A Hollywood filmmaker (Mike Jittlov) makes a short for an evil film studio. Unbeknownest to him, the producer has placed a bet of $25,000 that he won't come up with anything with a use. ... See full summary »

Director:

Mike Jittlov

Writers:

Mike Jittlov, Richard Kaye (additional dialogue)

Stars:

Mike Jittlov, Richard Kaye, Paige Moore

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mike Jittlov	...	Mike Jittlov / The Wizard / Torch Carrier (Wizard Film)
Richard Kaye	...	Harvey Bookman
Paige Moore	...	Cindy Lite / Dancer / Pretty Hitchhiker (Wizard Film)
Deven Chierighino	...	Brian Lucas / Photographer (Wizard Film) (as David Conrad)
Steve Brodie	...	Lucky Straeker
John Massari	...	Steve Shostakovich / Photographer (Wizard Film)
Gary Schwartz	...	Canadian Thug
Frank LaLoggia	...	American Thug
Philip Michael Thomas	...	Policeman Mickey Polanko
Lynda Aldon	...	Policewoman Minnie Smith
Baron	...	Policedog Pluto
Arnetia Walker	...	Tina Dreem / Running Girl
Ben Kronen	...	C.C. de Schwartz
Angelique Pettyjohn	...	Dora Belair
Will Ryan	...	All the Unions / Mr. President (voice) (as William Z. Ryan)

Storyline

A Hollywood filmmaker (Mike Jittlov) makes a short for an evil film studio. Unbeknownest to him, the producer has placed a bet of $25,000 that he won't come up with anything with a use. Luckily, our film creator gets the help of his friends.

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Plot Keywords:

film within a film | stop motion animation | filmmaking | autobiographical | based on short film | 

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Taglines:

His Life Is a Special Effect...

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Musical | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The seal of one of the film unions is a vulture holding a twisted strip of film in its talons.

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Goofs

A character makes a continuity error. In Mike's film-within-a-film, the Wizard takes Cindy to Hollywood. She phones her friends back home, who all run out into the street hoping to see the Wizard, and Cindy is somehow in that group too.

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Quotes

Harvey Bookman: Now I want... Big Bang all around the rocket girls, I wanna see video explosions everywhere. I wanna see little meteors shooting out into space; space everywhere!
Video Editor: Look! I don't do miracles.

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Crazy Credits

The cast scroll begins: Mike Jittlov--The Wizard The Wizard--Himself

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Connections

Referenced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook (2005)

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Soundtracks

It Ain't Necessarily So
(uncredited)
Composed by George Gershwin

User Reviews

"I don't shake hands"

Bizarre and obscure little film that charms you into watching it with gusto once a few minutes of it pass your eyes. It's an homage to struggling independent film makers everywhere, and filled with lots of subtle bits of humor and satire and quick-to-pass messages during the F/X. This film looks like it was made for about 40 bucks but don't let that keep you from watching it. What's more, evidently Mike Jittlov cast all his friends (a LOT of them) and his mom in the film as well, and it appears that each and every one of them are having the time of their lives doing this movie.

One of my favorite scenes is when Mike enters the office that Dora Belair (portrayed by Angelique Pettyjohn, sadly her last film appearance) works from, and there's a poster on the wall behind them of her Star Trek character "Shana" dressed in that aluminum foil bikini from the episode "The Gamesters Of Treskelian". It's a nice sci-fi touch... And nobody seems to notice.

Mike has a hard time trying to get his work recognized by anyone of substance (very much like real life) and it seems there's a crooked producer at every turn waiting to rip him off, and it isn't helped by his stigma about shaking hands... which is never really explained other than that he simply "...doesn't shake hands".

Throughout the film we see Mike working on film F/X in what appears to be his own garage and his own tools and props, and we get to see him actually producing the F/X that end up running in the short that he presents as his product, "The Wizard Of Speed And Time".

This is an astonishing little film that deserves much more recognition than it ever got, and it's a gem in the rough for being so matter-of-fact and innovative. It's also a must-have for any cult film or obscure cinema collector to include in their video collection. Of my all-time top 20 films, this would have to slip into the mix somewhere by its sheer tenacity and strength of will and innovation, if not for anything else. I really would have liked to have seen Mike Jittlov do something else similar to "Wizard..." but alas nothing ever came to be. I can watch this film over and over again, and with each viewing its atmosphere and flavor makes me feel like I'm 20 years back in time.

It's not for all tastes. Some people think it's absolutely wonderful, some people think it's amateurish nonsense. Some people simply won't get it at all. I got it. I liked it a lot, and the somewhat silly segments with the terribly cliche'd producer are forgivable if not perfectly allowable for the sake of comic relief, especially seeing as how that's the real producer of this film hamming it up on camera. If you *do* appreciate films like this, you'll feel refreshed after watching it and you'll feel like you'd like to meet Mike and maybe buy him a coke... just don't try to shake his hand.

Then go out and become an independent film maker yourself.

Bravo Mike, ya done good!

Details

Official Sites:

Mike Jittlov's domain

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Czarnoksieznik predkosci i czasu

Filming Locations:

902 Maltman Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,535,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jittlov / Kaye Productions, Rochambeau Productions (I), Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1