The Time Machine (1960)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

George Pal

Writers:

David Duncan (screenplay)
H.G. Wells (novel)

Release Date:

17 August 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

You Will Orbit into the Fantastic Future!

Plot:

A Victorian Englishman travels to the far future and finds that humanity has divided into two hostile species.

Plot Keywords:

Future | Time Machine | Time Travel | Dystopia | Tribe

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	H. George Wells
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

Also Known As:

H.G. Wells' The Time Machine (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

103 min | Australia:89 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm magnetic prints)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1960) | Iceland:12 | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Netherlands:AL | Australia:G (alternate rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Canada:PG | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

George Pal Productions

Trivia:

George Pal had long planned to do a sequel to this film. Several submitted scripts were reportedly rejected by MGM.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When George reaches the bottom of the chimney - deep underground, where the light-fearing Morlocks live - his shadow is clearly visible on the wall behind him.

Quotes:

George: What have you done? Thousands of years of building and rebuilding, creating and recreating so you can 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.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Big Bang Theory: The Nerdvana Annihilation (#1.14)" (2008)

Fourth Time Was A Charm: A Thought-Provoking Film That Looks Better Than Ever On DVD

Boy, did a nice DVD transfer of this not only mak me appreciate the visuals in here more but made the story seem better, too, for some reason. I only acquired the DVD as a memento, so to speak. I had to have at least one movie which had the woman I had a crush on back in the early '60s: Yvettte Mimieux. She still looks great, too. The main thing, however, is how I now viewed this story and how much more I wound up liking it than in the past. This was my fourth look at this movie over a 45-year span and I enjoyed it the most this last time.

Since time travel stories always fascinate me, my favorite part of the film is when "George" (Rod Taylor) is actually in his time machine and experiments with it, slowing it down here and then and then stopping it a couple of times to observe World War I and then WWII. Then, he stops in 1966 when supposedly there was a nuclear attack. (Apparently, scare-mongers back in '60 thought that was a short-term likelihood.)

Anyway, when "George" (H.G. Wells, the author of this story) finally stops, in the year 200,000-something, the story loses some of its momentum. However, it's a fairly interesting study of a group of ultra-passive people being dominated by others who live underground and then literally eat the good people. Taylor is astounded that mankind has not progressed as he had figured but seemed to have regressed.

The message I got on this last look is that man is still man, meaning sinful and capable of anything bad as well as good, and to put one's faith totally in man is a mistake. It's only going to lead to disappointments as "George" found out on each of his stops. (Notice he never stopped during a peaceful, progressive period.) Yet, "George" is still an optimist and wants to be one to help initiate change for the better. There's always hope for a better world and people like George, with his idealism put to action, can make a difference.

Overall, an entertaining and thought-provoking film.