| Director Hewitt was a magician on stage before he turned to making films -- and films that displayed photographic trickery. While being given a tour, in the early 1960s, of Los Angeles-based Cinema Research Corporation, the filmmaker was introduced to the 'optical printer'. This device sandwiched, photographically, various film elements to make an optical composite and did so up until a few years ago. As a guy who liked showing slight-of-hand, the optical printer opened up a whole new world for Hewitt in his cinematic endeavours. The downside of all the above is that Hewitt was accused of favouring visual effects over story... he seemed to throw together a script just to supply a vehicle for his 'magic'. Another criticism leveled at the filmmaker is that he tried to stretch already tiny budgets -- and one's which would have been put to the test on straightforward 'story' fare -- to cover scripts which required more than they could possibly pay for. In 1967, Hewitt made Journey to the Center of Time and this too suffers from exactly the same malady. David L. Hewitt went on to make a few more films but eventually settled down to running his own 'optical house', supplying effects to other films. Good for him. You have to give it to the guy, though. He got together financing to realize his dreams; that is of making films to satisfy the magician in him... and hopefully some of us movie fans. I don't remember seeing The Wizard of Mars on Sci-Fi Theater. I must have missed it. |
Monday, August 6, 2007
SCI-FI THEATER - Part 2
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Dave Hewitt's pictures were a staple on the 4AM timeslot on City TV (you know, when that station was still good), and insomniacs likely greeted the movies with bewilderment. "Wizard of Mars", "Journey to the Center of Time", and "Return from the Past" got frequent playdates at the time, and in 1989, when Elvira's show began to be syndicated on Global every Saturday night for about four years, one could catch "The Mighty Gorga" quite often. From your background, I can see why you chose to highlight Hewitt's ouevre from a technical standpoint, and as such, I think perhaps he'd prefer to be remembered that way.
Still, the thing I most garner from the Dave Hewitt experience is the doppelganger of him producing ambitious screenplays on far too meagre budgets, and similarly refusing to tone them down to match his pocketbook. But to the best of my knowledge, he still controls the copyrights to many of his little epics, having re-released them to home video or TV syndication on occasion. Seeing his work again for the first time in years, I find them rather charming.
We should invite him to Toronto to screen his two biggies. It would be fun to have him as the guest of honour and to speak to a crowd that we will have to get...
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