Review of The Time Machine (1960) by Wil K — 19 Jan 2010

We see our time traveler; George and his belief in a Utopian future and progress in addition for his distaste for war. We see the effect of both World Wars on him as well as the impending threat of a nuclear Armageddon. The time lapse is the filmâ??s most notable feature, though I had to wonder how the store mannequin could have such longevity. Surely they would have replaced in the course of a decade, or at least gotten more than one after a time since the business obviously boomed over time. I also couldnâ??t help but wonder how funny it might have been if he had seen the fashions to change on the figure themselves. In much the same way the candles plummeted and shadows grew longer, to have watched her neckline skydive and her hemlines soar then have the window board up at the point of â??Well whatâ??s next, if anything?â?? Sort of the like that â??Effects of Global Warningâ?? photo with the laundry line.

This segways into a series of sequences meant to demonize war that ignores the idea of confrontation with evil, and produces a message that makes the final act seem a little silly. The Eloi future is something that I would have liked to have seen in a way that wasnâ??t meant to be tailored to a broad audience. This new setting brings with it a sort of rock 'em-sock 'em feeling like a pulpy John Carter of Mars story, which can work if youâ??re a square jawed he-man like Captain Kirk, but if youâ??re a strongly worded pacifist like MacGyver, or this guy, youâ??ve just got to wonder how he mastered the art of Austin Powers Judo. Anyway the climax occurs when the obstinate native curls his fist like George McFly and sock the enemy Morlock so hard that the monster starts oozing blood out of his mouth like the contents of a fresh jar of strawberry jam. How hard did he punch him?

It seems he only wins the future by introducing opposing violence, something George had spoken strongly against in the first act. If this had impacted and changed his character about the issue of war it would be something, instead it seems to be there just to be an action movie ending. At least in â??Time After Timeâ?? we get to see the intoxicating nature of violence and Wells being pushed to the breaking point because of it, eventually using his mind to combat the villain rather than his rage. If the message had been â??Evil triumphs when good men do nothingâ?? like in â??High Noonâ?? it might have been something, but I donâ??t think that moral is intentional here. Besides, this isnâ??t â??High Noonâ??, itâ??s â??The Time Machineâ??, a science fiction piece used to satirize British class divisions by depicting the aloof socialites as ignorant, giggling florists who, when the tables are turned, are subjugated by the undesirable working class depicted as subterranean savages as their class would have been perceived. In that respect the film might have done better to follow the example of â??Metropolisâ??.

In any event, I do like how â??Georgeâ?? (an early instance of citing the author as the protagonist to be done in many adaptations since) narrates his journey in the time machine in much the same way as he did in the book. Wells's leads were never so much characters so much as they were chroniclers or observers. A sort of a field reporting style that feels very alien to modern readers, much like the 50s starchy dialogue I wrote about the in my reviews of "War of the Worlds" and "The Fly" , but in a period piece like this it actually works.