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The Time Machine (1960 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Time Machine | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | George Pal |
| Produced by | George Pal |
| Written by | H. G. Wells (novel) David Duncan |
| Starring | Rod Taylor Alan Young Yvette Mimieux Sebastian Cabot Whit Bissell |
| Music by | Russell Garcia |
| Editing by | George Tomasini |
| Release date(s) | 17 August 1960 |
| Running time | 103 min |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | approx $850,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Time Machine (sometimes known as H.G. Wells' The Time Machine) is a 1960 science fiction film based on The Time Machine, an 1895 novel by H. G. Wells about a man from Victorian England who travels far into the future. It was made by George Pál, who also filmed a famous 1953 version of Wells' The War of the Worlds. It starred Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux. The screenplay was written by David Duncan.
The film received a 1961 Oscar for its then-novel use of time lapse photographic effects to show the world around the Time Traveller changing at breakneck speed.
Pal always wanted to make a sequel to the 1960 film. But it was only remade in 2002 with the same title directed by Wells' great-grandson Simon Wells.
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In 1899 London, George (Rod Taylor) discusses the subject of time as the fourth dimension with some of his friends, among them David Filby (Alan Young) and Dr. Philip Hillyer (Sebastian Cabot). He then shows them a tiny machine that he claims can travel in time. The device first blurs, then disappears. The others are incredulous, but dismiss what they have witnessed as a parlour trick and leave. Before he departs, Filby warns George that it is not for them "to tempt the laws of providence." They agree to meet again next Friday.
Unbeknownst to the others, George has constructed a full-scale model of his time machine, one capable of transporting a man. He sits in it, the dial reading "December 31, 1899", pushes the lever forward, and watches time pass at an accelerated rate around him. To his amusement, he sees the changing of women's fashion on a mannequin in the window of a dress shop across the street.
Eventually, he stops the machine at September 13, 1917 to see what has become of the world. He meets a man in uniform whom he mistakes for his old friend, David Filby; it turns out to be his son James. He informs George that his father had died recently in the "Great War". George returns to the machine and travels to June 19, 1940. There are barrage balloons in the sky and sounds of bombing, leading him to believe, "It must be the new war." His next stop is August 18, 1966. He is puzzled to see several people hurrying past him into a fallout shelter amidst the blare of air raid sirens. An older, grey-haired James Filby tries to get him to enter the shelter as "the mushrooms will be sprouting" before fleeing. There is an explosion, the sky turns red, and hot lava starts oozes down the street. George restarts the machine, just in time to avoid being incinerated. The lava covers the machine, cools and hardens, forcing George to travel far into the future before it erodes away.
He stops the machine abruptly on October 12, in the year 802701, next to a low building with a large, grotesque sphinx on top of it. George explores the idyllic pastoral paradise. He spots some young adults by a river. A young woman is drowning, but the others are strangely indifferent to her plight. So George rescues her himself. She calls herself Weena (Yvette Mimieux) and her people the Eloi.
George is outraged to find out that the Eloi have no government, no laws, and little curiosity. Their books lay mouldering on a few shelves. He shouts, "A million years of sensitive men dying for their dreams, for what? So you can... dance and play." He decides to return to his own time, but tracks indicate that the time machine has been dragged into the building, behind a pair of locked metal doors.
Weena takes George to a small museum, where talking rings tell of a centuries-long East-West nuclear war. One group of survivors chose to remain in the shelters, while the rest decided to "take their chances in the sunlight, slim as those chances might be." Later, Weena tells George that the Morlocks live in the building.
At night, as George tries to recover his machine, one of the Morlocks grabs Weena, but George saves her again. The next day, Weena shows George openings in the ground which look like air-shafts. George starts climbing down one of them, but then a siren sounds and he climbs back up. Weena and rest of the Eloi start walking towards the front of the building as if in a trance, seeking refuge from a non-existent attack. Before George can find her, the sirens stop and the doors close, trapping Weena and several others inside.
George climbs down an air-shaft, reaching a big artificial cave. In one chamber he sees a number of human skeletons strewn carelessly about and learns the horrifying truth: the Morlocks eat the Eloi. The Morlocks are finally shown to be hideous hominid, ape-like creatures. George finds that they are sensitive to light; he uses matches to keep them at bay, before lighting an improvised torch. At one point, a Morlock knocks it away, but one of the male Eloi summons up enough courage to punch the Morlock. Weena pitches in as well. They set fire to the flammable material in the cave, driving off the Morlocks. Then the Eloi escape through the air-shafts. Under George's guidance, they drop tree branches into the shafts to feed the fire. There is an explosion, and the entire area caves in.
Finding the metal doors now open. George goes in to get his machine, but the doors close behind him. A Morlock attacks, but George activates his machine and travels into the future, watching the Morlock die and turn to dust. Then George travels back to January 5th, 1900. He tells his story to his friends, but only Filby believes him. After George's friends leave, Filby returns, but by the time he reaches the laboratory, it is too late: George has left again. The housekeeper, Mrs. Watchett (Doris Lloyd) notes that he took three books with him. Filby asks her which three she would take with her to restart a civilization. She asks Filby if they will ever see George again; Filby replies, "One cannot choose but wonder, You see, he has all the time in the world."
- Rod Taylor .... George
- Alan Young .... David Filby/James Filby
- Yvette Mimieux .... Weena
- Sebastian Cabot .... Dr. Philip Hillyer
- Tom Helmore .... Anthony Bridewell
- Whit Bissell .... Walter Kemp
- Doris Lloyd .... Mrs. Watchett
- Paul Frees* .... Voice of the Rings
* Not credited on-screen.
Pál was already famous for his pioneering work with animation. He was nominated for an Oscar almost yearly during the 1940s. Unable to sell Hollywood on the screenplay, he found the British MGM studio (where he had filmed Tom Thumb) much friendlier.
MGM art director Bill Ferrari invented the Machine, combining a sled-like design with a big, radarlike wheel. The original Machine prop would later reappear in animator Mike Jittlov's short Time Tripper, and thus in his feature film version of The Wizard of Speed and Time which incorporated it.
In 1993, a combination sequel/documentary short, Time Machine: The Journey Back, directed by Clyde Lucas, was produced. In the third part, Michael J. Fox talks about his experince with Time Machines from Back to The Future. In the last part, written by original screenwriter David Duncan, the film's original actors Rod Taylor, Alan Young and Whit Bissell reprised their roles. With Bissell's opening narration, the Time Traveller returns to his laboratory in 1916 and finds David Filby (dressed in a World War I army uniform) there. Knowing that Filby is destined to die during the Great War, George tries to prevent this by encouraging his friend to join him in the far future – but Filby has doubts. Eventually, George departs in the time machine alone – no doubt having learned that he cannot change the course of history... but will give it one more try. Filby dies May 16, 1916, so he'll go back to May 15... (Time Machine: The Journey Back is featured as an extra on the DVD release of the 1960 film.)
- Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Effects winner (1961) - Gene Warren and Tim Baar
- Hugo Award nomination (1961)
