The Time Machine (1960 film)

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The Time Machine
Directed by George Pál
Produced by George Pál
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 Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Language English
Budget approx $850,000
Allmovie 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 Daniel Duncan and the musical score was composed by Russell Garcia.

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.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

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. When activated, 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.

George sits in his time machine
George sits in his time machine

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 begins to ooze 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 802,701, 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. George rescues her himself. She calls herself Weena (Yvette Mimieux) and her people the Eloi. She is very interested in him.

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 and George listen to the talking rings
Weena and George listen to the talking rings

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,Weena insists that George and her go back inside, for fear of the Morlocks. While they stay outside, he shows her a fire, and tells her a little about the past. 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.

The Morlocks.
The Morlocks.

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."

[edit] Cast

* Not credited on-screen.

[edit] Production

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. It is also seen in the film Gremlins along with Robby the Robot at the inventor's convention. Most recently it appeared as a major plot device in the situation comedy The Big Bang Theory.

[edit] 1993 sequel/documentary

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 experience 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 Traveler 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.)

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Quotes

[George's friends have just seen the small-scale replica of the time machine vanish before their eyes]
DR. Philip Hillyer: I'll be damned ! - but where did it go?
George: Nowhere in the usual sense - it's still here!

David Filby: George... I speak to you as a friend – more as a brother... if that machine can do what you say it can, destroy it. Destroy it before it destroys you!

[In 1917, George meets a man he at first thinks is his friend David Filby]
George: You look rather silly without your mustache, old man.
Filby's son: There was quite a resemblance. I'm James Filby.
George: Was?

[The time machine has brought George to 1940, during the Second World War]
George: Then I realized the truth of the matter – this was a new war...

[In the year 802,701, George is talking to Weena about the past]
George: Man's past – is mainly a grim struggle for survival. But there have been moments, when a few voices have spoken up...

[George becomes angry when he discovers the Eloi's lack of initiative]
George: What have you done? Thousands of years of building and rebuilding, creating and recreating so you could let it crumble to dust. A million years of sensitive men dying for their dreams, for what? So you can swim, and dance, and play... You, all of you, I'm going back to my own time; I won't even bother to tell of the useless struggle and their hopeless future, but at least I can die among men!

[In 1900, David Filby discovers that George has left in the time machine again]
 David Filby: He must have taken something with him...
Mrs. Watchett: Nothing... except three books.
David Filby: Which three books?
Mrs. Watchett: I don't know... is it important?
David Filby: Oh, I suppose not. Only, which three books would you have taken?

[Last lines]
 Mrs. Watchett: Mister Filby, do you suppose he'll ever return?
David Filby: One cannot choose, but wonder. You see, he's all the time in the world.

[edit] External links

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