Movie Monday: The Time Machine (1960)
As the month of October begins, I will be dedicating the whole month of #MovieMondays to scary/Halloween themed films. The classic film I am highlighting today is The Time Machine, produced and directed by George Pal.
These photos are not mine.
As much as I hate to admit it, sci-fi and scary films are my guilty pleasure. I remember seeing this film for the first time and being absolutely taken with the plot as well as Rod Taylor’s acting talents. The idea of a society drastically different than ours is not all that hard to imagine, but this film really brought the fear that comes along with a doomed future to life.
After seeing War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells’ son felt that George Pal would be the man who could accurately create the world his father always dreamed of for his novels. H. G. Wells was never able to see his stories come to life on the screen, however, the characters for these films were still magnificently constructed. The Time Machine would go on to win an Oscar for Best Special Effects.
These photos are not mine.
The Time Machine had many hurdles before beginning production and it was never certain that the film would actually ever be made. However, when MGM Studios finally approved of the film they let George Pal be at the helm. As talented as Pal was at creating cinematic magic and a seemingly fantastic world unlike anything movie goers had ever seen before, the studio gave The Time Machine a very small budget to work with.
In addition to trials of getting the project off the ground, producers also struggled to find the right actors to play in the lead roles. Rod Taylor was surprisingly the last choice for this film’s leading man. Pal had a number of other men in mind to play in this role like Paul Scofield and James Mason.
These photos are not mine.
The Time Machine‘s struggles did not end at casting. When creating the wild world that is shown in this film, art directors did not know in which direction to go. There were many decades, past and future, covered in this film so how would you keep the costumes and sets in this movie as timeless and realistic as possible? The art directors had to get creative and pull together unconventional pieces of furniture and materials to create the sets. On the scary, blue morlocks the actors had a button to press that would turn on a light and make the eyes of their costume glow.
These photos are not mine.
Although George Pal’s desire to make a sequel to this film never came to be, I still consider The Time Machine as one of the classic sci-fi films in cinema. If you are looking for something a little bit different to watch and you are ready to kick off the Halloween season, be sure to give The Time Machine a try. It may even make it on your list of must see Halloween movies!
Much Love,
Sarah
