ALL SCI-FI

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has a few more trivia items for this production than it did when I made an earlier post, so here's few more.
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~ The original time machine was sold at the MGM studio auction in 1971, the same auction that originally sold the ruby slippers (see trivia for The Wizard of Oz (1939)). The winner of the auction was the owner of a traveling show.

Five years later the prop was found in a thrift store in Orange, CA.

Film historian Bob Burns purchased it for $1,000. Using blueprints his friend George Pal had given him years earlier, he and a crew of friends restored it. The restoration crew included D.C. Fontana, script consultant and writer on Star Trek: The Original Series (1966), and Michael Minor, art director on Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982).

Please see www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/props/timemachine.html for further info on this amazing prop.

Note from me: I believe there's a special place in Heaven for Bob Burns and people like him who appreciate art treasures like this wonderful prop.

Conversely, there's a special place in Hell for moronic studio executives who have no love for the fine things their dedicated filmmakers create.

You know, something like being forced to stand barefoot on top of an anthill . . . forever.

~ Based on the clocks in the scene, it took George an hour and a half to tell his story at dinner.

Note from me: Maybe the fact that the changing clock faces made it obvious that the scenes were filmed in multiple takes is why the clock directly behind George in the shot below is turned around backwards!

Instead of the clock's face being visible, we see it's inner workings — thus preventing the camera from showing the hands of the clock jumping around from one shot to the other!





~ Rod Taylor stood just under six feet tall; in an effort to make him appear larger, and therefore more impressive, all the Eloi and Morlocks were played by much shorter actors.

Note from me: Gee, ain't this ironic? Male actors who aren't as tall as the filmmakers want them to be have to play opposite shorter actors.

But female actors who are taller than most gals need to have leading men who even taller than they are!

And when a young lady is especially short (like the lovely Jane Powell, who was only 5' 1"), she couldn't be cast as the love interest with someone like Gary Cooper (6' 3").

Heck, if those two stood face-to-face and tried to kiss, Gary would either have to bend his knees (and look ridiculous), or he'd pick up Jane like a child and have her hang from his neck while her feet danged a foot off the floor!

~ The film takes place on December 31, 1899, on January 5, 1900, on September 13, 1917, on June 19, 1940, on August 19, 1966 and in October 802,701.

Note from me: I was just three days passed eighteen on August 19th, 1966. And I was honorably discharged from the Air Force on October 7th, 1971.

I know that's not the least bit interesting or important . . . but things have been a bit slow on All Sci-Fi lately, so I guess I'm getting a little desperate to add comments.

~ Trapping George inside a cooled mountain of lava between 1966 and 802,701 relieved the filmmakers of having to show ever-changing backgrounds over thousands of centuries.

Note from me: The fact that our hero was entombed by the solidified lava was so dramatic that we never missed the scenes of time passing. And the Big Reveal when he finally escapes is absolutely wonderful!

~ The jungle stream where George saves Weena from drowning was located on MGM's lot #3, behind the "Meet Me in St. Louis" street, and catercorner to the "Kismet" steps used for the Eloi's dining hall.

Note from me: If you watch the various shots carefully during that scene, the water just doesn't flow turbulently enough in the long shots to justify Weena's inability to get out of the steam.

But the closeup shots seem to show a more turbulent current. However, it still doesn't convince the audience that Weena needs help.

~ The actors playing the Morlocks are obviously professional wrestlers. Their thick bodies, bracing defensive stances, and stalking postures, their leaping and pouncing, and especially their over-exaggerated reactions to being struck are all out of the professional wrestler's handbook of ring performing techniques.

Note from me: When I read this I immediately got funny mental images of Morlocks in professional wrestling matches!

Picture it! Two Morlocks going at it — or a Morlock and a pro wrestler! Then again, maybe a Morlock and a terrified-but-determined Eloi . . . who would win, like the Eloi did in the movie.

The audience could either be all regular fans, or a combination of Morlocks and Eloi, with each group cheering for their champion.

Imagine the scene in which a Morlock climbs up onto the ropes, preparing to leap down and body slam his stunned Eloi opponent!

But the wide-eyed young Eloi would recover in time to roll out of the way so that the Morlock crashes onto the matte! The Eloi jumps onto his back, grabs two handfuls of hair, and repeatedly pounds his face onto the canvas while we see the Morlock's loose teeth skidding across the matte in all directions!

The crowd would go wild . . .

~ George's miniature time machine, which he sends Into the future ahead of himself on New Year's Eve 1899, will eventually go zipping through the park in front of the Morloch's sphinx on its way to infinity. And, after its energy supply runs out, will come to rest at an undetermined moment in the far future where London, England used to be.

Note from me: This obviously doesn't appear in the movie, but I certainly admire the imagination of whoever came up with this idea!

~ Rod Taylor fights a Morlock right outside the time machine and then sends the device into the future, which causes rapid decay of the body. This effect was achieved by making a wax figure of a Morlock, then melting it with intense heat, and speeding up the footage, thus giving the illusion of decomposing flesh.

Note from me: I could be wrong, but I don't think the decomposition FX was done that way. I looks more like stop motion — something George Pal was very fond of using in his films.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Producer & director George Pal was unable to sell Hollywood on his Time Machine adaptation from H. G. Wells novel. MGM's British studio was interested and green lit the production.

~ Hollywood has such vision & imagination...NOT!

The budget came in around $829,000 or 827,000. This did not allow for the film to be shot in London. The live action scenes were all filmed from May 25 to June 30th, 1959 in Culver City, California..

The name of the main character, George, is a connection to both the author of The Time Machine novel, H. G. Wells, and producer/director of the movie, George Pal.

In the classic Wells novel the character is only referred to as the time traveler, no name is given for him.

Pal considered casting middle-aged actors such as David Niven or James Mason as the time traveler. He chose the younger Rod Taylor when he decided to make the character more idealistic and athletic.

~ If he did cast James Mason it would have been his first H.G. Wells novel adaptation to film. He already had appeared in the Jules Verne novels adapted to film with Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Gene Warren & Tim Baar won the 1961 Academy Award for Best Effects & Special Effects.

Wah Chang who constructed the Time Machine from MGM art director Bill Ferrari, also created the Morlock make-up.
The film was nominated for the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

Legendary voice artist Paul frees provided the voice for the talking rings.

Singer Peggy lee wrote the song for the movie "The Land of the Leal," but it was never used.

The plaque on the control panel of the time machine reads: Manufactured by H. George Wells.

David Duncan who did the screenplay adaptation for the film was also a part of the writing team who conceived the 1966 science fiction movie Fantastic Voyage.

The Morlocks aren't affected by light from metal fusion in their foundry but recoil from the light of a single match.

When George discovers that his time machine has been moved in the far future, it is late afternoon or twilight on the same day he arrived.
The light-fearing Morlocks would not have come outside from their subterranean habitat until after dark.

[Bud Brewster]

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You should have joined us for the chat last night, Mike. It was glorious!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Krel]

[Pow]

And isn't it nifty that short stature doesn't necessarily equate to short talent?

James Cagney: 5'4 & 3/4." Humphrey Bogart: 5'4." ]

Michael Landon: 5' 9.'' Al pacino: 5' 6."

Martin Sheen: 5' 6." Robin Williams: 5' 7."

Michael J. Fox: 5' 4." Dustin Hoffman: 5' 5."

Frank Sinatra: 5' 7." Richard Dreyfuss: 5' 4."

Henry Winkler: 5' 6."

[Bud Brewster]

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Gentlemen, I'm extremely impressed with the research you did to create the wonderful posts above! '

Hollywood's efforts to alter reality when it comes to the relative heights of various actors as they appear on screen is as justified as the special effects artists who apply makeup to actors so they appear hideous and inhuman!

My point is that filmmakers must do whatever it takes to create the images on screen which present the audience with whatever tells the story!

Cinematic art is exactly the same as every other kind of visual artwork. I mean, does anyone think I haven't altered the oil painting below of my second ex-wife to improve the image after I painted it in the late 1970s — one of my first efforts to paint in oil?

Fortunately, I've learned how to fix my mistakes using several computer applications.


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Trust me, the original is badly flawed compared to the image shown above! Frankly, every jpeg of my artwork on All Sci-Fi has been extensively altered to improve it!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

J.J. Cohn was the head of MGM's productions.

He noticed how many times the Tarzan company was going on location for filming because the lakes on MGM's Lot One and Two weren't big enough to accommodate the Tarzan productions.

The set that Cohn had in mind was bigger than anything yet attempted in any studio.

The lake, or jungle river, as it was sometimes called, spanned 1,200 feet, included an island, and ranged from 4-10 feet deep and had seven-million-gallons of water for the river.

A large number of trees and plants were planted along the lake and in the depths of the jungle. They were oft-times of families and varieties that were never meant to cohabitate in nature.

Employees of the studio's Greens Department did have their hands full tending to the problems inherent in getting foliage to grow in a desert climate, which L.A. basically has.

Water is piped in, and sprinkler heads were honeycombed throughout the greenery and carefully hidden from the camera in order to keep everything green and alive.

From: M-G-M, Hollywood's Greatest Backlot by Steven Bingen, Stephen X. Sylvester, Michael Troyan

[Krel]

They probably also had the same problem as Disneyland. Disney bought several Smith & Wesson pellet guns for the maintenance crews. That was because of the large spiders that took up residence in the Jungle Cruse jungle.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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The mental image of Disney employees hunting "large spiders" in the Jungle Cruise ride sounds like a new video game!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

I found an excellent documentary hosted by Rod Taylor on Y-tube!

_____________ Time Machine The Journey Back


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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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Thanks, Gord! It's post like yours that keep All Sci-Fi alive!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Here's a movie that George Pal and Rod Taylor (and everybody else) wanted a sequel to!





The premise of the sequel is obvious. George the Time Traveler is determined to help the poor Eloi. They've lost all the accumulated knowledge of mankind — a loss that George considers to the greatest tragedy in human history!

Could there possibly be a way to restore some of that knowledge to the last survivors of mankind in the year 802,701? To do so a man would need a time machine.

But how could a single man, even with a time machine, manage to collect that vast knowledge from the past and transport it to the Eloi? It would be impossible! It would be like trying to save all the manuscripts and art treasures in the Library at Alexandria by making countless visits to the site and carting off all the treasure before the fire started which burned it to the ground!

Fortunately there's a much better way.

Simply prevent the fire from occurring!

Following the logic of this analogy, George could use his time machine to visit past eras and determine what events served as catalyst to cause the wars which destroyed humans civilization. If the could prevent those tragic events, then the course of human history would be changed, and mankind who avoid some of its most stupid mistakes!

Thoughts, anyone?
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[tmlindsey]

I don't like paradoxes so stopping the fire before it started doesn't appeal to me.

Most of what was lost in the museum fire would be either of little use to the uneducated Eloi or would likely crumble to dust when exposed to air. The Eloi were essentially what would happen if most Zoomers found themselves in a world where an EMP killed all the phones and other "smart" devices; most of them wouldn't know how to do anything.

George took three books to help rebuild society, so he didn't return completely empty-handed.

The other thing to consider is; is this really the ONLY civilization on the entire Earth?

It's unreasonable to think that this one tiny community is all that is left. After returning, George could travel to other places and encounter other communities. Some may be the same or similar to the one he encountered, some far better, some even worse. The book and film takes place on what may or may not still be an island, after all.

I wish I had access to a simulation program that would show what the surface of Earth would look like in 802,701. That might open up many more story possibilities.
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"Have you never wondered what it would be like to walk between the ticks and tocks of Time?"