In honor of writer Herbert George Wells, better known as H.G., who died on this date, August 13th, we’re going to talk a little bit about the movies that this imaginative man inspired.  It seems hard to believe – at least to me – that he only died in 1946, a mere 61 years ago.  H.G. Wells was born in 1866,  and so a man with distinct ties to both the 19th and 20th centuries, although perhaps the image we have of him as a man is more 19th century, thanks especially to the popularity of a couple of Wells titles.

What films first spring to mind when talking about the influence H.G. Wells had on the movies, especially in the realm of the fantastic?  Hard to pick on winner on that one.  War of the Worlds or The Invisible Man?  The Island of Dr. Moreau or First Men in the Moon?  The Time Machine or Food of the Gods?   And perhaps a lot of us have our strongest impressions of H.G. Wells from a movie where he’s a leading character, the 1979 Nicholas Meyer-directed time travel romantic comedy Time After Time.  Wells is portrayed by Malcolm McDowell in one of his most charming performances, opposite Mary Steenburgen in only her second movie role. 

But it’s the adaptations of Wells’ novels that have earned him the lasting attention of science fiction and horror fans everywhere, with the two excellent – each in its own way – adaptations of his War of the Worlds, the many interpretations, including the especially memorable first, of The Invisible Man, and of course The Time Machine.  The eternal (of course) appeal of the possibility of time travel makes this adventurous journey into Earth’s tumultuous future a perennial favorite, especially as put to film by director George Pal in his 1960 version.  Actor Rod Taylor is the stalwart George – make that H.G. Wells — who takes off in his intricate Victorian time-tripping temporal buggy to go rescue the pale and limpid Yvette Mimieux from the clutches of the hideous underground Morlocks.  (Any resemblance to the denizens of this blog is strictly intentional.) 

I’m also very fond of the 1964 film of First Men in the Moon directed by Nathan Juran with visual effects by the master Ray Harryhausen.  With its visual  style a delightful combination of modern space age efficiency and quaint Victorian scientific gadgetry, and with an alien race definitely on the creepy side – unless you really love insects – First Men in the Moon isn’t quite as well-known as other Harryhausen movies (but should be), nor is it always remembered as a Wells signature piece.  A lot of the credit for the delightful quality of the movie lies in the performance of actor Lionel Jeffries as the discoverer of Cavorite, the gravity-defying substance which allows the moon-bound spacecraft to escape Earth’s orbit.  Jeffries is quintessentially British, proper, practical, a tad pompous but utterly dedicated to the quest for scientific knowledge and fearless, to boot.  His brave encounter with the alien ruler, as he walks up to its shimmering throne, is quite a scene. 

If you haven’t watched First Men in the Moon, or The Time Machine, or War of the Worlds lately, they’re well worth taking in again.  Though the recent WotW remake is a great deal gooier than the original, and of course is a Tom Cruise vehicle, it has some terrific moments, though fans of the 1953 version are probably safe in declaring it the definitive version, not counting Orson Welles and his radio triumph from 1938.

In addition to Malcom McDowell in Time After Time, the real H.G. Wells was played last year by actor Michael Sheen (The Queen’s Tony Blair) in a BBC production entitled H.G. Wells — War With The World, which will be worth looking for if it turns up over here.  Of course H.G. Wells was about more than just his popular novels; he was a progressive political thinker and historian who felt comfortable challenging the popular notions of his time, and also an unswerving advocate for peace on earth.  If Wells were indeed able to step into his Time Machine, what would he think of the world today, a mere 60 years after his death?  I’m sure he’d set the dial ahead many more years and try again, to see if somebody might have finally gotten things right, sometime out there.