Time Flies (1944)

Regisseur:

Walter Forde

Drehbuchautoren:

Ted Kavanagh (writer)
J.O.C. Orton (writer)

Premierendatum:

8. Mai 1944 (UK)

Genre:

Komödie | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A minor music hall star uses a professor's time machine to go back to the days of Queen Elizabeth I . |

Plot Keywords:

William Shakespeare | Queen Elizabeth I | Queen | Actor Shares First Name With Character

Nutzerkommentare:

So stupid it's actually funny

Besetzung

Tommy Handley	...	Tommy
Evelyn Dall	...	Susie Barton
George Moon	...	Bill Barton
Felix Aylmer	...	The Professor
Moore Marriott	...	A Soothsayer
Graham Moffatt	...	His Nephew
John Salew	...	William Shakespeare
Leslie Bradley	...	Capt. Walter Raleigh
Olga Lindo	...	Queen Elizabeth
Roy Emerton	...	Capt. John Smith
Iris Lang	...	Princess Pocohontas
Stéphane Grappelli	...	A Troubadour (as Stephane Grapelly)

Länge:

88 Min

Produktionsland:

UK

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Seitenverhältnis:

1.37 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Altersfreigabe:

UK:U | Australia:G

Firma:

Gainsborough Pictures

Dies und das:

This little-known movie seems to be the first feature film to include a time machine. It was released the same year as Fiddlers Three (1944) - another small British comedy about time travel.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: When Tommy is ordered to stand for Captain Raleigh he is so startled that, as he stands, he drops the chicken leg he is eating. It clearly misses the table and must surely have landed on the floor. Yet, in the next shot which is made out to be in real time, as Tommy cheekily sits back down - the chicken leg is already back in his hand without him having picked it up off the floor.

Dialogzitate:

Tommy: Why! Mr. South America. I thought you were in Hamilton. I mean, Mr. Hamilton, I thought you were in, er, South America.
Mr. Hamilton: [with Irish accent] Whatta yer doin' with my champagne?
Tommy: Ay-o-i-er... I was just going to launch a battleship, only, somebody's stolen it.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweist auf/spielt an auf/erwähnt Things to Come (1936)

Soundtrack:

Big Chief Tom-Tom

So stupid it's actually funny

Time travel comes about unexpectedly for Tommy, Susie, Bill and the Professor. The Prof. has invented this "timeball" which is like an earlier model of the car from Back To The Future. He's showing Susie the ins and outs of it, not worrying about hitting all the buttons because it won't work unless the trapdoor is shut. Thing is, Bill and Tommy, on the run from some cops, have climbed into the giant sphere to hide, and shut the door after them! So they go whizzing up a million miles, Susie slams a lever accidentally, they all get knocked out due to lack of oxygen, and when they awake, it's in 16th century England.

Tommy is throwing jokes over his shoulder at every opportunity, this starts off as funny but soon wears very thin. He's up to his neck in trouble, teaching the Queen how to gamble and then pretending he owns America and selling off blocks of land to the townsfolk and noblemen. The Prof is all very serious and ends up being arrested when he comments on how "Queen Bess" died - of course, this is the time when she is still holding court. Bill bumbles around a lot. It's Susie who has the most fun. She's got a voice like Ginger Rogers, and twice as much energy as Betty Hutton, and is hilarious to watch, whether trying to hail a cab (in 16th century London!), or prompting Shakespeare with lines from Romeo & Juliet, dressing up as a man, and singing any number of lively songs to buy a little time before they are all drawn and quartered.

Very, very weird. But still quite enjoyable. 8/10.