A Lone Fan Crying In The Wilderness: From The Archives: The Greatest Movie You've Never Seen!

Ever seen this?

I'd guess not. This trailer is for a rarely seen feature that was written, directed, produced by, and starred special effects man Mike Jittlov who plays ... Mike Jittlov a man who wants to break into Hollywood as, well, a special effects man and ... make a movie?

I know the premise sounds nutty but that's only because it is. If I had to sum up this movie in one word, it'd be joy. There's a definite geek culture vib throughout including comic book trivia, movie references, nods toward George Lucas and Woody Allen, and even a cameo by the legendary Ward Kimball one of Walt Disney's famed Nine Old Men as an irate I.R.S. (the Infernal Revenus Service) Agent who can't believe that some poor woman went "Two whole weeks without paying your taxes!"

The film begins in 1977 (or possibly another dimension) the same year that Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind established George Lucas and Steven Speilberg as masters of fantasy storytelling and paved the way for the sci-fi craze that griped Hollywood in their wake. And honestly, that's no mistake. The whole heart of this movie is about finding hope, adventure, and wonder in a world that's held in a deadlock of corporate greed and bad ideas.

Our hero Mike Jittlov (played conveniently by Mike Jittlov) battles iron fisted union workers, corrupt producers, and everything that infuriates us (or at the very least me) about the Hollywood system, and through it all rises above what could easily fall into self indulgent preachiness by maintaining a sense of ironic humor and self parody that will have you laughing at our hero as just much as you'll laugh with him.

But as interesting as this movie is, the story behind it is even more so. The film was produced by Richard Kaye, who also plays Mike's nemesis in the film, backstabbing movie producer Harvey Bookman. In real life, Jittlov and Kaye had a tense relationship that led to a falling out between and (so I've heard) a lawsuit. I don't want to say too much about this because I've never had a chance to sit down and talk with either Richard Kaye or Mike Jittlov and most of the articles I've read about it have been brief, implying more details than they actually reported. Still, it's funny to think that the rivalry portrayed on screen actually happened on the film set.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Where can I find this wonderful film?" Sadly, due to the troubles I mentioned above, the studio that produced Mr. Jittlov's opus went out of business as a result. The Wizard of Speed and Time had a very limited vhs and laserdisc release and because the company is dead the rights to the film are in limbo, prohibiting a dvd release.

However, thanks to the efforts of one username Damn6Deal6Done6 on youtube, I have been given permission to display his fantastic upload of the entire feature. It's very good quality and trust me, this movie is well worth watching. I whole heartedly recommend it. Enjoy!

PART 1