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Responding to an invitation issued five days
earlier, five gentlemen meet at the London residence of their mutual friend,
scientist George who, having arrived late and disheveled, recounts the last
five days, beginning with the group's December 31, 1899 meeting.
George explains that he has been working for two years to prove the
possibility of movement within the fourth dimension, time, by creating a
time machine to carry man into the future or past. When George unveils
a miniature version of the machine, makes it disappear "into the future"
with the switch of a lever and then insists that he, too, will travel into
the future, his friends suggest he contribute to the war effort instead of
dabbling in tricks. As the others turn to leave, one of the men, David Filby, asks George why he is preoccupied with time. George replies that he
is discouraged by human behavior and the proliferation of weapons and asks
his friend to return to the house with the others for dinner on January 5th.
Returning to his laboratory alone, George seats
himself in a full-size version of the time machine, a sleigh powered by a
large disc at the rear, and a Victorian chair and a control panel at the
helm. As George pushes the main lever forward, a display counter
clocks his movement in time. At first advancing only a few hours,
George can see the flowers bloom and die within seconds. Pushing
ahead, George notices the mannequin in a shop window across the street
change styles drastically over each passing year. When his house
windows suddenly become boarded up, George stops the machine in 1917 to find
a man resembling David on the sidewalk nearby. After the man, James
Filby, explains that George must be mistaking him for his father David, who
died in the war, George inquires about the "inventor" who lived in the
house. James informs him that after the inventor disappeared, David,
as executor of the inventor's estate, refused to liquidate the house,
certain that the owner would come back.
Returning to his house, George removes the
boards over his laboratory windows and speeds ahead to 1940, stopping his
journey when he feels a large bomb explode in the neighborhood.
Realizing that another war is taking place, George continues traveling until
1966. The time machine is now in the middle of a park while sirens
sound and all the town's citizens, including an elderly James, scurry to an
atomic bomb shelter. Although James begs him to come to the shelter,
George remains behind and finds that his sundial has been designated as a
park monument to acknowledge David’s dedication to his friend George.
Suddenly, as an atomic blast destroys the town and molten lava flows through
the streets, George rushes to the time machine and throttles ahead.
Encased in the hardened lava, George travels
through centuries of darkness until the rock finally wears away to reveal a
lush and bountiful landscape in the year 802,701. Finding himself
outside the large metal door of a temple, George assumes that, if man still
exists, he has conquered the elements. Drawn by the noise of humans,
George walks to a river where several dozen blond, docile young men and
women known as Eloi leisurely bask in the sun. When the others fail to
help a drowning woman, George rushes to save her, but finds no one
acknowledges his self-sacrifice, not even the victim, Weena.
Joining them for dinner, George questions the
group about their apathy. The small, delicate Eloi remark that they do
not value life nor do they read, write or have any governing laws.
When he finds that the last human books have turned to dust, an incensed
George reprimands the Eloi for disrespecting the sacrifices of generations
before them and returns to the temple to leave, but Weena tells him the
machine has been dragged behind the metal door by the Morlocks, who reside
in caves and provide the Eloi with food and clothing. George
apologizes for his angry outburst and expresses his hope that he might
reawaken the Eloi’s spirit of self-sacrifice and scientific inquiry.
Later, when they hear the sound of the Morlocks’
machines, Weena explains that the Eloi know about life underground through
the rings which, when spun, recite a brief history of the earth.
George soon learns how the human race divided itself into the master race of
Morlocks and the Eloi, whom the Morlocks conquered and enslaved.
The next day, when sirens sound, all the Eloi
walk in a trance-like state toward the metal door, which opens and takes in
several dozen men and women, including Weena. George then runs to a
concrete well, where he and several remaining Eloi climb down into the
caves, which are covered in human remains, evidence of the Morlocks'
cannibalism. When he finds the Eloi being herded like cattle, George
tries to overtake several Morlocks by wielding his torch in front of the
fire-fearing, half-human, half-ape creatures. As a brawl begins,
several Eloi, following George's example, use their fists to fight the
creatures. Freeing the captured Eloi, George and the group scramble
out of a well entrance, throwing blazing torches and dried wood into the pit
to cause an explosion, which collapses the caves and kills the Morlocks.
George then tells the Eloi that with their life
of leisure over, they must learn to work for themselves. Despite
lamenting that he feels trapped in their world, George reveals to Weena that
she is his only love. Suddenly, the temple door opens and the last
Morlocks attack George, who clambers into the time machine, pulls back on
the lever and returns through the centuries to January 5, 1900.
Back at the dinner table, George shows his
London friends an exotic flower from Weena as proof of his travels, but the
other gentlemen have no faith in George’s story and leave. Still
concerned for George's health, David returns to the house within minutes,
but finds both George and the machine gone when he reaches the laboratory.
Spotting tracks in the snow, David deduces that the Morlocks moved the
machine, forcing George to drag it into the laboratory upon his return.
When housekeeper Mrs. Watchett asks him if George might return someday,
David sagely reminds her that George "has all the time in the world." |
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