TIME FLIES (1944)
Article #292 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 1-1-2002
Posting date: 5-18-2002

Several people go back to Elizabethan times in a time machine. There they meet various personages from that era, including Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, and Sir Walter Raleigh.

This slight British comedy with jazzy musical numbers (which impress the Elizabethans, though not the queen) was never released in this country, but is now available through the miracle of home video. Unless you find Tommy Handley the pinnacle of hilarity, it’s not really worth bothering about, but it is historically important in the history of science fiction cinema, as it may be the earliest movie to feature a time machine. There were earlier stories about time travel, but usually they involved dreams or magic of some sort. It doesn’t make the movie any better, though the costumes are quite elaborate. This one is a matter of taste.