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 | 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:

Time Machine | Utopia Quest | Apathy | Library | Lava

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)
Die Zeitmaschine (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
A Máquina do Tempo (Brazil) [pt]
Aikakone (Finland) [fi]
El tiempo en sus manos (Spain) [es]
L'uomo che visse nel futuro (Italy) [it]
La machine à explorer le temps (France) (video title) [fr]
O arxon tou kosmou (Greece) [el]
Rædselsrejsen (Denmark) [da]
Tidsmaskinen (Sweden) [sv]
Vremeplov (Serbia) [sr]

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:

The "lava" in the volcano scene in downtown was actually oatmeal with orange and red food coloring spilled onto a platform and slowly moved down the miniature set.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The 20th Century began on Jan. 1, 1901, not Jan. 1, 1900 as depicted in the movie. However, like in the year 2000, it was celebrated based on the change from 1899 to 1900 rather than based on numerical correctness.

Quotes:

Filby: If that machine can do what you say it can do, destroy it, George! Destroy it before it destroys you!

Movie Connections:

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

A Firm Favourite

The original film version of THE TIME MACHINE is almost certainly the best adaption of any of H G Wells work and deserves its status as a classic SF film. That`s not to say it`s without flaws , it starts very slowly and I found Filby`s obviously false Scottish accent very irritating ( Notice when a Scotsman appears in a SF film or series his accent is poor ? Scottie from STAR TREK , Jamie Mcrimmon from DOCTOR WHO etc ) , but once the hero goes off into the future it`s entertainment all the way.

Special mention should go to the very intelligent script, it does simplify much of Wells subtext but also adds an anti war theme , you can actually believe the hero`s thought processes came out of the mouth of Wells , and during the nuclear war the Earth show`s its anger at mankind with a series of devastating volcanic eruptions. Is this the first time that " the Gia Theory " has appeared on film ?

Perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay this film is that it reminded me of the early DOCTOR WHO stories . Praise indeed