“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” Anthony G Oettinger*
Dr. Erik von Steiner (Preston Foster), Dr. Steve Connors (Philip Carey) and Carol White (Merry Anders) are scientists. In 1964 they are developing a time viewing devise. It sucks up a lot of power. A technician from the power plant, Danny McKee (Steve Franken) is sent to pull the plug. The scientists are in the middle of a test. The machine basically malfunctions and turns into a portal.
Danny steps through. The others soon follow. Then the portal collapses. They are in the year 2071. They end up in a post apocalyptic future. They are attacked by mutants so they seek shelter in a cave and are rescued by an underground society. The leader of the society is Dr. Varno (John Hoyt). They are the last of mankind that has not been changed into mutants. They are building a rocket ship to take them to a new planet. They plan on going to Alpha Centauri. They are assisted by androids.
The scientists are told they will not be able to go on the ship with the others but they will have access to whatever they need to rebuild their portal and return to 1964. But time is limited. The colony is working feverously to complete the ship. Before they can lift off the mutants break in and destroy the ship with most of the colony already on board. Without the ship the few remaining colonists are stuck on a dying Earth. Varno decides to make a quick last ditch effort to try to get the portal done in time. He hopes that by using future technology they can get the portal open.
“The Time Travelers” was released in 1964. It was written and directed by Ib Melchior. He has written some very interesting science fiction stories and screenplays. Many of which have been stolen by others. For example “The Time Tunnel” and “Journey to the Center of Time”. Forrest J Ackerman has a cameo. He is a super fan and has a lot of clout so he gets to do this stuff.
One little shout out to Peter Strudwick the gentle mutant that Carol meets in the caves. Peter was born in 1930. His mother had Rubella while she was pregnant with Peter. He was born with no toes, two fingers on his left hand and none on his right hand yet he became a marathon runner and a father. He died in 2014 at the age of 84.
For the most part it’s an amusing and interesting movie. With a bigger budget it could have been even better. However, due to its lower budget it is considered a “B” movie. It gets a little freaky toward the end and I realize the ending is what it needs to be but to me it was a little depressing. Despite that it is still a great science fiction story.
**MINOR SPOIILER The ending for the movie was also used in the Dr. Who episode “Heaven Sent” in 2015**
Technically we are all time travelers. However, we only travel towards the future. We travel at a rate of one hour per hour. Not exciting I know. But not only do we travel through time, we travel through space as well. Every time we move. Since we travel both through space and through time are we not proof of Einstein’s theory? Hmm.
*Anthony "Tony" Gervin Oettinger (born 29 March 1929 in Nuremberg, Germany) is a linguist and computer scientist.