“Can man control his destiny? Can he change the shape of things to come?”
On a cold winter’s evening in 1900, David Filby (Alan Young), Dr. Philip Hillyer (Sebastian Cabot), Anthony Bridewell (Tom Helmore) and Walter Kemp (Whit Bissell) have been invited to dinner, but the host is late. Attested to by the myriad of clocks all around the parlor. The host is the well known inventor H. George Wells (Rod Taylor). Eventually Wells shows up looking rather bedraggled and half dead. And with an astonishing tale to tell.
Previously Wells had discussed with this same group the concept of time travel. He showed them a test model of the machine and sent it into the future. The group sees the demonstration as ambiguous. When they leave Wells goes to his laboratory where he has a life size time machine. He proceeds to travel into the future. He makes several stops on his journey. He meets his friend Filby’s son James in 1917. He learns that his friend died in the war the previous year. Then in 1940 he sees the Blitz and another war. In 1966 is another war. There is an explosion from a nuclear satellite that triggers a volcanic eruption. Lava flows over the time machine engulfing it and Wells is sealed inside a mountain. For centuries he is trapped until eventually the mountain wears away.
He is now in the year 802,701. His stops near a large structure that looks like a futuristic temple. The land is lush with vegetation. Fruit grows huge. At first he finds no people. In a clearing near a river are blonde haired young men and women idly basking in the sun. He hears a scream. A young woman is drowning in the river. No one makes any attempt to try to save her. He rushes into the rapids and saves the woman’s life. Eventually he finds out that the young woman’s name is Weena (Yvette Mimieux) and that her people are called Eloi. When he goes to leave he finds that his time machine has been dragged into the temple. The doors are solid and he is unable to get to it.
After talking to Weena and listening to what she calls the talking rings. Wells finds out that there is another race that lives underground called Morlocks. Further investigation reveals that the Morlocks take care of and cultivate the Eloi. The Eloi are cattle and food for the Morlocks. An air raid siren blares and the Eloi walk silently and hypnotically into the Morlock temple. When the siren stops the doors close and the Eloi that are still above ground go back to their contented life believing “all is clear”. A vestige of the air raid warnings of wars past. Weena is one of the Eloi that ends up trapped in the temple to become food. Wells is now on a mission to free Weena, and retrieve his time machine.
“The Time Machine” was released in 1960 and was produced and directed by George Pal. This science fiction film is based on the book by H.G. Wells. The movie is a big MGM production, which is what George Pal does. The film is full of beautiful cinematography and special effects. There are lots of bells and whistles. Pal is very fond of bells and whistles. The film received an Academy Award for Best Special Effects for the time-lapse photographic effects. The journey through time.
Although glossy it may be, and despite the fact that liberties were taken, “The Time Machine” has a lot of lessons that Wells tried to impart. Mainly that hubris is man’s downfall. Second that progress is not necessarily progress. Both the Morlocks and the Eloi, as the future of man, are nothing to be proud of. The Morlocks are cannibals and the Eloi are cattle. Intelligence and knowledge are nothing if not used in a constructive way instead of destructive. Man has a choice to do good or do bad. When one decides to do bad, eventually, all other choices are made for you. Even though Wells liked to look toward the future in his books, he always took with him the present. And it seems that his present is not all that dissimilar to our present.
Critics have noted that George Pal’s “The Time Machine” has not aged well. I think there are millions of grown up little boys and girls that would disagree with that assessment whole heartedly. Granted it may be slow in spots, but there’s nothing like a blue skinned, glowing eyed, creepy looking Morlock to get your attention.