The Time Machine (1960) is one of the most memorable cinematic
signposts of author H.G. Wells and filmmaker George Pal. The film
stars Rod Taylor as George, a Victorian era-inventor (presumably
Wells himself) whose time machine takes him through the turmoil
of the 20th century to a distant future where mankind has been
reduced to sheep-like Eloi harvested by cannibalistic Morlocks.
The film boasts a winning performance by Taylor, imaginative visual
effects, and one of the most distinctive props in the history
of science fiction: the sled-like time machine.
The score to The Time Machine was by Russell Garcia, whose earlier
sci-fi concept album Fantastica had attracted Pal's attention.
Garcia was a veteran of the Universal music department who scored
two films for Pal at M-G-M: The Time Machine and the subsequent
Atlantis: The Lost Continent.
The Time Machine is by far Garcia's most famous work, a thrilling
symphonic score bursting with the film's sense of wonder and adventure.
Two themes stand out: the majestic main title theme for the story
as a whole, and the heartfelt, British Isles-flavored melody for
the relationship between George and his best friend, Filby (Alan
Young). The score features full-blooded action music (for the
terrifying Morlocks), a romantic variation on the main theme (for
George's relationship an Eloi woman, played by Yvette Mimieux),
and sound effects-styled but distinctly musical passages (influenced
by the Fantastica album) for the operation of the time machine.
This CD marks the premiere release of the original soundtrack
recording for The Time Machine. (An earlier recording -- released
on CD by GNP/Crescendo -- was a 1987 re-recording conducted by
the composer in Germany, except for three brief tracks from the
film itself.) The complete symphonic score is presented in stereo,
with "effects" passages (which Garcia himself supervised
and considered part of his score) interpolated in mono.
1.
Main Title/Credits/London 1900 3:11
2.
Terror/All the Time in the World/Fourth Dimension/Time Machine
Model 2:49
3 A Sick World/Warm Friends 2:24
4.
The Time Machine/People Scurry/Fast Change 2:59
5. Ancient Auto 1:04
6. A Good Friend Gone/Off Again/Quick Construction/Prayer/Sunburst/Land
of the Eloi 4:54
7.
Beautiful Forest/Fear 3:11
8.
Rescue 1:40
9. Weena 1:48
10. Trapped in the Future/Night Scare 2:55
11. Reminiscing 1:44
12. The Time Traveler 2:42
13. Morlocks/Fight/Escape 8:39
14. Love and Time Return 2:38
15.
End Title 2:02
Total Time: 45:20
Outtakes Suite 7:33
Total Disc Time: 52:54
sound
samples in RealAudio™ format
