Sunday Afternoon Movie: The Time Machine (1960)

This week’s Sunday Afternoon Movie was very nearly a Sunday Evening Movie, you may think the two are one and the same thing but you could not be more wrong.

For those of us who do not venture out on a Sunday night, we savour the last few drops of freedom by squeezing in one last cheer of the weekend. So in the coming weeks there’ll be a few select choices to eek out the weekend before another week of commuting, working and stressing begins.

Back to the task at hand.

The work of H.G Wells has always appealed to me, his books are landmarks in science fiction and some have been adapted into great movies over the years. Naturally some have not been so good, The Island of Doctor Moreau had a notoriously troubled shoot and a ropey 2002 remake of The Time Machine were certainly the worst, but you can’t get it right every time.

Back in 1960 director George Pal brought The Time Machine to the big screen, having previously directed War of The Worlds he was an ideal choice for another Wells production.

Rod Taylor stars as Victorian gentleman H George Wells, who constructs a time machine and travels into the far future where he finds mankind has now divided into two warring species.

The Morlocks are a terrifying creation and even if the make up hasn’t aged well, this doesn’t  take anything away from the enjoyment of the movie. All the elements for a timeless adventure are in place, there’s the accidental hero, the civilization to save and a damsel to rescue.

The time lapse sequences helped win the movie an Oscar for Best Special Effects and 52 years on the movie still conjures up fond childhood memories watching this on a Sunday afternoon.

In the same way I hold a special nostalgic place in my heart for old Doctor Who episodes, I cherish The Time Machine every bit as much.