THE TIME MACHINE (1960)

A barber’s chair, oatmeal and a large sled were some of the ingredients from which director George Pal made magic in the first big-screen adaptation of H. G. Wells’ 1895 novella. Wells had long dreamed of seeing his tale of time travel filmed, but it was his son Frank who put the wheels in motion. Impressed by Pal’s The War of the Worlds (1953), Wells pitched the story to him. Seven years later, it reached the screen, with Rod Taylor as the 19th-century inventor who travels through time to the world of peaceful Eloi and cannibalistic Morlocks. Art director William Ferrari used a 19th-century barber’s chair in a large sled as the basis for the time machine, while Pal’s special effects team dyed oatmeal red to create the lava that destroys London. Their work was so impressive it helped make the film a big hit and captured the Oscar for Best Special Effects.

d. George Pal, 103m, 35mm

Courtesy of Park Circus and Warner Brothers Classics.