November 5 - Time After Time

Today’s movie is a science fiction film with scenes that happen on November 5. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

TIME AFTER TIME                          

On November 5, 1893 [1:13 to 20:07] Jack the Ripper murders a prostitute. H.G. Wells shows his friends, including Dr. John Stevenson, that he has created a time machine. The police arrive looking for the Ripper and find evidence in Dr. Stevenson’s bag that he is the Ripper. After they leave Wells realizes that Stevenson has used the time machine to travel into the future. The machine returns empty, as it was designed to. Wells uses it to follow Stevenson to November 5, 1979 [22:53 to 32:43] in San Francisco. Wells goes to all the banks to see if Stevenson has exchanged money. He meets Amy Robbins who tells him Stevenson did exchange pounds and she referred him to the Hyatt–Regency Hotel. Wells goes there to try and get Stevenson to come back with him to 1893. Stevenson refuses, tries to kill Wells and flees. Wells thinks Stevenson is killed in a car crash. Wells and Amy go on a daylong date and spend the night together. Then he learns Stevenson is not dead and has killed two prostitutes. Neither the police nor Amy believe Wells’s story. Then he takes Amy forward in time a few days and she sees a newspaper story about her own murder. They go back in time to before her murder, but Wells only manages to call the police shortly before the Ripper’s next murder. Because of this the police arrest Wells as the killer. He is worried about Amy and begs the police to check on her safety. When they finally go to Amy’s apartment they find a dismembered body. Wells is released since he obviously could not have done it as he was in custody. However Stevenson killed Any’s co-worker and took Amy hostage to get the key from Wells that will enable him to leave in the machine and stop it returning to Wells.  Once Stevenson gets in the machine Wells removes the “vaporizing equalizer”, which sends the passenger traveling through time without the machine, in effect killing Stevenson. Wells and Amy return to 1893 and get married.

A moderately exciting time travel story. Interesting in that November 5 is a date used in two other time travel films, Back to the Future and Timerider: The Adventures of Lyle Swann. I wonder was that intentional or coincidental.

    

Date given in the film on the time machine at 17:17 and 23:04

Producers – Herb Jaffe                    

Director – Nicholas Meyer                               

Screenplay – Nicholas Meyer                           

Runtime – 1 hour 52 minutes       

Released – August 31, 1979                                                  

Starring –

Malcolm McDowell as H. G. Wells                                                                             

David Warner as John Leslie Stevenson

Mary Steenburgen as Amy Robbins                                                                           

Charles Cioffihorror as Police Lt. Mitchell                                                                              

Kent Williams as assistant                                                                                               

Patti D'Arbanville as Shirley                                                                                        

Joseph Maher as Adams                                                                                               

Corey Feldman as boy at museum                                                                           

Andonia Katsaros as Mrs. Turner  

Jim Haynie as 1st Cop

Wayne Storm as 2nd Cop   

Shelley Hack as Docent                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014.