The Time Machine (1960)

The Time Machine – also known promotionally as H.G. Wells' The Time Machine – is a 1960 Metrocolor time travel science fiction film based on the 1895 novella of the same name by H. G. Wells. The story, hugely influential in the development of science fiction, relates the experiences of an inventor in Victorian England who constructs a machine that enables him to travel into the distant future; once there, he discovers our human descendants have divided into two species. The film stars Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, and Alan Young.

The film was produced and directed by George Pal, who had earlier made a film version of Wells' The War of the Worlds (1953). Pal always intended to make a sequel to The Time Machine, but he died before it could be produced; the end of Time Machine: The Journey Back functions as a sequel of sorts. In 1985, elements of this film were incorporated into The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal, produced by Arnold Leibovit.

The film received an Oscar for time-lapse photographic effects showing the world changing rapidly.

Synopsis

On January 5, 1900, four friends arrive for a dinner at the house of H. George Wells (Rod Taylor), an inventor. Their host is late and his housekeeper, Mrs. Watchet, has served dinner in his absence. Bedraggled and exhausted, George staggers in. He takes brief refreshment and begins to describe the strange experiences he has had since the last time the group met.

Actors