Duo-Vision

Another of the movies that I recorded because the synopsis sounded interesting was Wicked, Wicked Recently, I finally got around to watching it off my DVR. And then, after scheduling the posting, I discovered that TCM is runningit tomorrow, June 27, at 4:15 PM.

A screen at the beginning informs us, "You are about to see a new concept in motion picture technique... Duo-Vision. In this process you will witness simultaneous action through the use of a double screen... an experience that will challenge your imagination." Well, it won't challenge the imagination so much, but that's another story. Duo-Vision, as we see in the opening credits, is a way of splitting the screen in two and showing completely different events in the two halves of the screen. Large portions of the movie are done like this, but there are portions with just one full picture.

The opening credits are set over San Diego's famous Coronado Hotel that was also used as the substitute for the hotel in the Miami Beach area in Some Like It Hot. Some of the shots in the credits are of an organist playing music from Phantom of the Opera, and this music is the score for a good portion of the movie. However, this organist doesn't seem to be integral to the plot. A blonde checks into the hotel, and as she's being brought to her room, we see somebody sharpening knives on the other half of the screen.

That should be fairly obvious foreshadowing. Indeed, as the lady is in her bathroom about to take a shower, a masked bellboy comes into her room... and slashes her! It isn't until the next morning that this young lady's body is discovered.

This is a problem for hotel that has its share of problems. The hotel is in a parlous financial state, and it also wasn't the first, or the last, killing in the hotel. It's up to the hotel detective, Rick Stewart (David Bailey, relatively unknown to me), to figure out who is killing all the blondes.

And then, making things more complicated, is the fact that Stewart's ex-wife Lisa (Tiffany Bolling) is hired on as a singer in the hotel lounge. Thankfully, she's a brunette. But, she also dons a blond wig in her act....

Wicked, Wicked is another of those movies that is objectively terrible. The acting is bad, there are so many red herrings and plot holes that go nowhere, and that organ score is a mess. But Wicked, Wicked is another one that's so bad it winds up becoming a lot of fun just because of what a campy mess it is. It's definitely worth one watch, although because of that Duo-Vision gimmick, watch it on the largest screen you can.