The Time Machine

Excuse me, Mr. Filby!

I say...

- I say, it's outright rude of him! - He's merely been detained.

This is such a waste of time!

If he's not coming, I have more important things to do.

Well, speak up. What is it, woman?

Well, are we or are we not invited for dinner?

Apparently we are.

- How long has he been gone? - I'm not certain, sir. Several days.

I've hardly seen him for some time.

He never leaves the lab. He only comes in and picks at his food.

But he did tell me about dinner, and left those instructions.

Thank you, Mrs. Watchett.

- What's it say, Filby? What's wrong? - Nothing, really.

George says that if he's not here by 8, we're to begin without him.

Oh!

Walter, what time is it?

Dinner is served, gentlemen.

Ah, first sensible thing I've heard all evening.

This is peculiar. He's usually prompt, precise and punctual.

Oh! He's making fools of us by not showing up. It's ungentlemanly.

- To say nothing of a waste of time. - Huh? Yes. A waste of time.

Ah, one thing I like about George, best cellar in England.

And Mrs. Watchett is the finest cook in the world.

Yes, I think I'll drink to that.

- Good Lord! What's happened? - I'm all right.

Some food.

A drink.

- I didn't recognize you. - Mrs. Watchett.

Can't you speak? What happened to you?

- Leave him alone. - It's fine.

- I've got to tell it while I remember. - Relax. Try to relax.

You've all the time in the world.

You're right, David.

That's exactly what I have.

All the time in the world.

Since we were together five days ago...

the last day of 1899.

There in that box rests the result of two years' labor.

I wanted to finish the job before the new century began.

I barely made it.

- Cheers, gentlemen. - Marvelous, old boy.

Mm, yes, but what is it?

Well, it has to do with time.

Oh. I've always maintained that this nation...

needs a reliable timepiece.

Mm, the navy needs one. Heh.

The army needs one for the artillery.

You couldn't do better, George. That's why you've been in hiding?

Very clever of you indeed.

I don't think George is referring to a new timepiece.

No, David.

When I speak of time, I'm referring to the fourth dimension.

Go on, George.

The fourth dimension cannot be seen or felt.

If you don't mind, will you refresh me on the first three dimensions?

Oh, really, Filby. Surely they taught you something in school. Heh-heh.

Suppose you explain it, doctor.

Huh? Oh, certainly.

Heh.

For example, when I move in a line, forward or backward...

that's one dimension.

When I move left or right, two dimensions.

When I move up or down...

three dimensions.

For instance, that box.

That box has three dimensions: length, breadth and height.

What is the fourth dimension?

Oh, well... That's mere theory. No one really knows if it exists.

On the contrary.

The fourth dimension is as real and true as the other three.

In fact, they couldn't exist without it.

What do you mean?

Let's take that box.

It has the first three dimensions.

- What's inside? - I'm coming to that.

Let's consider this first.

Why do we ignore the fourth dimension? Because we can't move within it.

We can move in the other three. Up, down, forward, sideways, backward.

But when it comes to time, we are prisoners.

Do you follow me, Bridey?

No.

George, you've given a lucid explanation, but I'm afraid I don't understand.

There are many things you don't understand, yes?

Quite a number.

Yet you don't refuse to believe in them?

- Not if I can see the proof myself. - Good, Walter.

Gentlemen, all I'm asking you...

is to witness a demonstration of movement...

within the fourth dimension.

- Doctor, can I have your help? - Certainly. Ahem.

Ah, it's beautiful!

- Remarkable. - Very nice, George.

Fascinating.

What is it?

This is only an experimental model.

- To carry a man, I need a larger one. - To carry a man? Where?

Into the past or into the future.

This is a time machine.

Okay, George, you've had your joke. Tell us what this contraption is for.

I've already told you.

The larger model can carry a passenger through time.

Not through space, but through time.

If you go to the future, won't you mess things up for us?

The future's already there. It cannot be changed.

I wonder.

That's the most important question I hope to answer.

Can man control his destiny? Can he change the shape of things to come?

If you've gone mad, I forgive you.

- But if you're wasting our time... - No! You're here as witnesses.

- To see, not to listen. - To see? What?

The experiment I'm about to perform.

Let me tell you how it works. The time traveler sits in the saddle.

In front are the controls.

Let's do this properly. You can spare a cigar, I trust?

Now, let us imagine that this cigar...

is the time traveler.

The lever in front of him controls movement.

Forward pressure sends it into the future...

backward pressure, into the past.

The harder the pressure, the faster it travels.

Our little experiment can be performed only once.

If it succeeds, I lose my model. That's why I need witnesses.

Go ahead, George.

Ready, gentlemen?

Doctor, lend me your hand.

I'll be damned!

It worked.

- Where did it go? - Go?

Nowhere, in the usual sense. It's still here.

But it's no longer in the present.

It's traveling through time. To the future, to be exact.

You expect us to believe that?

Well, you just... Certainly.

- You said it hadn't really moved. - That's correct.

Then why can't we see it?

Because we're in this room on December 31, 1899...

but the model is perhaps a hundred years away by now.

This house may not be here in a hundred years.

But the time machine occupies the same space that it did...

a moment before its journey.

If it's occupying the same space, why can't I feel it?

The space you're putting your hand through is today's space.

You can't put your hand into tomorrow's space.

Space doesn't change!

The same space that's here now should be here forever.

No, Philip, time changes space!

This flat ground could've been at the bottom of the sea long ago.

A million years from now, it could be the interior of a huge mountain.

If all this is true, what do you expect to do with such a contraption?

Contraption?

I intend taking a journey into the future.

Or perhaps the doctor would volunteer to go?

Mm? Hm.

Look here, George...

suppose you do go off and get lost in the 50th century...

- ...how will you get back? - That's a risk I'm ready to take.

Oh. Now, look here, George.

I don't know what you think, but we're not fools!

We're practical businessmen.

What I want to ask you is this:

Even if you had invented a time machine, what of it?

What's its use? Who'd buy it? How much would it cost?

Have you thought of the commercial possibilities?

No, I haven't.

George... There's a war on in South Africa.

The Boers are putting up a fight. The country needs inventors like you.

I can put you in touch with the War Office.

What do you think, David?

Oh, I...

Dr. Hillyer has a good point, George.

Ah. That's more sensible. Ha.

I'll see to it right away.

Good Lord! It's time to go.

Yes, I'm sure we all have plans for tonight.

- Are you all right, George? - Yes, I'm all right.

Coming, Bridewell?

Thanks for coming.

- Good night. - Happy New Year.

- Happy new century, George. - Good night.

Happy New Year!

George.

I thought I'd better stay.

You shouldn't trouble yourself. I'm all right.

No, you're not.

You've been behaving oddly for over a month.

I'll leave, once you tell me what's on your mind.

I appreciate the gesture, David. I just want to be left alone.

You've changed, George. Enormously.

I'm sorry.

Will you answer me one question, honestly?

Yes, I'll try.

Why this preoccupation with time?

Why not?

Don't go simple on me.

The truth is, I don't much care for the time I was born into.

People aren't dying fast enough.

They call upon science to invent...

new, more efficient weapons to depopulate the Earth.

And I agree with you.