The Time Machine (1960)

Director:

George Pal

Writers:

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

Release Date:

17 August 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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 | River | Air Raid | Stop Motion Animation

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:

When George arrives in the year 802701 his time machine reads the date of October 12th. So George arrives into a "New World" on the anniversary of Columbus' first reaching the "New World" of the Americas.

Goofs:

Continuity: When sitting on the stairs, Weena looks to her right, apparently to the setting sun. But the shadows she and George throw indicate the sun is to Weena's left. In the next shot, when they walk upstairs to the hall, their shadows are much shorter, indicating noon.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

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

Great film, very well done.

I recently saw the 2002 film "The Time Machine" and liked it a great deal, so I thought that it was probably in my best interest to see the 1960 version of "The Time Machine". So, I went ahead and rented it and watched it. I knew that this film was made in 1960, so I wasn't expecting anything spectacular, but I still hoped that it would be good. I must say that I was REALLY impressed with the film! I thought it was great!

The story is brilliantly told, smartly done, and quite interesting. I noticed a great deal of similarities (and differences) between this film and the 2002 version. There was virtually nothing I didn't like about the film, as far as story goes. I'm really interested in reading the H.G. Wells story now, so hopefully in the near future I'll bust out my copy and read it.

I thought the actors in the film did a fantastic job as well! Sadly, I'd never even heard of any of the actors in the film. I thought Rod Taylor, Alan Young and Yvette Mimieux all did a great job. The rest of the cast was good, but these three really struck me as great. Also, I have to say that Yvette is one beautiful woman!

The special effects in this film were surprisingly good, especially for a movie made in 1960! I must admit that I was really impressed with the sets and the special effects in the film.

The only thing that I would complain about, if I had to, is some little things. For instance, the classic "monster about to grab the guy, but then doesn't" sort of thing. Little things like that kind of bothered me, but I realize that it was just the style back then, so I can't really complain about it. Also, I wasn't too terribly impressed with the mouth and face of the Morlocks, but again, given that it was made back in 1960, I can let it slide.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film, and would definitely recommend it to anyone that liked the 2002 version of the film or just enjoys films about time-travel or science fiction. I truly hope that you enjoy the film as much as I do. Thank you for reading,

-Chris