Tonight I watched a very early example of science fiction, "Things To Come" (1936), based on a book by H.G. Wells and directed by William Cameron Menzies. It was a spur of the moment viewing - I found the movie at Chatsworth Libe this afternoon. I'd heard of it but had never sought it out because of it's "age". I am not normally a fan of early sci-fi, much of which had a philosophical or political underpinning, but "Things" was on the Criterion label (usually a good sign) and I needed something to watch, so I figured I'd give it a try.
Besides being a genius, H.G. Wells was a futurist who, along with Jules Verne, basically invented the genre of science fiction. You already knew that of course, I was only reiterating it, but in the movie Wells projects us into the future. His book "The Shape Of Things To Come" was written in 1933, and he is already envisioning a "World War Two", which, in the movie, begins on Christmas Day 1940.
So Wells was prophetic, too, and he was only off by a little less than sixteen months.
In "Everytown", which could be London, folks are in the Christmas spirit even though rumors of war are spreading. Newsboys hoist signs and banners proclaiming an imminent breakout of battle. Meanwhile, the film's star Raymond Massey sits in his living room with his family and business partner. They are enjoying the holiday and don't believe that war will come. But suddenly, over the radio there is an announcement of a bombing raid by an anonymous enemy. Within minutes, the city is being decimated. Citizens are running for their lives as buildings are reduced to rubble.
Following this annihlation, the director uses a montage to fast forward us thirty years. We are now in 1970. The same war has been raging all this time, and the two sides have suffered such attrition that their societies are a shadow of what they had once been. "Everytown" is a bombed out ruin now led by a riled-up warlord the locals call "The Boss". He is played by the great British actor Ralph Richardson. At the current time, he and his people are up against a plague that is claiming citizens at a rapid pace. Called "The Wandering Sickness", the disease is eerily reminiscent of that in "The Walking Dead". Just as in that series, those with the illness must be shot. Richardson is the most enthusiastic proponent of the shootings, and as such, he has become the de facto leader. Once Everytown has finished off the last person with The Sickness, which takes a couple of years, Richardson is once again ready to resume the city's war against the Hill People, a ragtag army of folks who were once part of the sophisticated air force that bombed Everytown on Christmas Day all those years ago. In the three decades that have passed, their planes are all gone, as are most vestiges of their society. Both Everytown and the Hill People have seen their once modern societies sent back to nearly hunter/gatherer standards by years of war.
The key to victory, for Ralph Richardson, is the rebuilding of his own stock of damaged aeroplanes, by using spare parts. He has an expert mechanic who can do the job, which if accomplished will get the planes in the air to finish off the Hill People once and for all. But the mechanic informs Richardson, "The Boss", that it won't matter if he can fix the planes, because they have no petrol with which to fly them.
All of this mayhem and aggression takes up close to an hour of the 96 minute film. The story thus far reminded me of Orwell's "1984", and the philosophical points were well stated, the ugly ironies of "eye for an eye" violence that lead to endless war. Then there are the leaders who equate retribution with justice and the sheep-like people who follow them. This is all well and good; Wells' story is a morality tale. The problem as far as the movie was concerned was that a modern viewer is so well acquainted with these postulations that one wishes the film would move on to it's next point.
We are living in a postmodern, ironic society now. We get it. But in the movie, made 83 years ago, it takes one hour to show us all of this.
We in 2019 already know about Communism and Capitalism and Utopianism and all of the "Isms", as John Lennon called them, none of which seem to work. Back in 1936, this was new material, but now, as far as watching an entertaining movie was concerned, this viewer felt dragged down.
Not helping matters was William Cameron Menzie's decision to have his English actors, which included most of the cast up to this point, emote in Shakespearean mode. Ralph Richardson is one of the finest actors England has produced, but here he is so heavy handed as to suck the air out of the plot.
At any rate, it's by no means a bad film up to this point, just overdone. It has the feeling of a stage play in which the actors have been given free reign to express the outrage of Wells' words, so the subtleties are lost and there is no dramatic tension.
Fortunately for us, the movie shifts gears in the final 36 minutes. We are fast forwarded again into 2036 (I think that's the correct year but you can double check it), into a World Of The Future.
Here Menzies gives us some of the art direction and production design he was noted for. Now we are transported into a fantastic era of science, with amazing giant machines to supply power to gadgets of every kind. It's uncanny how prophetic Wells was. The jet age was not yet upon us and rockets to the moon were more than thirty years away, yet here they are in the story. The grandson of Raymond Massey (played by Raymond Massey) is the leader of a group called Wings Over The World who believe that a goal continuing scientific progress is the only way for mankind to live in peace. Man must never cease to learn and explore, or he will bog down again in violent conflict. The Wings Group even have a Peace Gas that they use on crowds to quell disturbances.
But now that everything is peaceful and scientific, there rises another leader who questions the need for Endless Progress ( hmmm, he could be me, haha). He is an artist who feels that the constant quest for The New leaves humanity with no chance to rest and enjoy what they already have. This is H.G. Wells arguing with himself, making the case for both sides, and it leads to some far more interesting dialogue and philosophical interplay than we saw in the first half of the film.
That is all I will give you of the story, and I hope I haven't revealed too much, but I needed to tell you a little bit about the final act because it makes sitting through the first half of the film very worthwhile.
I am gonna give "Things To Come" Two Regular Thumbs Up, but those thumbs are waving with extra enthusiasm for the 36 minute Sci-Fi finale, which features some very awesome looking futuristic set design (the future will be Art Deco!), and makes good use of models and miniatures too.
"Things To Come" is highly recommended for sci-fi fans, certainly worth a look despite it's faults. /////
This is me chiming in. It's now Sunday afternoon. I am back from church. I got to be the song leader today, as our regular lady was absent. It was my first time in front of the microphone for every song in the service, and I very much enjoyed it. I got to "sing lead" as it were, on four hymns and our anthem. Hopefully they will give me a chance to do it again. :)
This has been yet another blog that I began the night before and finished the following afternoon. I think it happens because I get too in depth with my movie reviews, and when it is late night, I can sometimes "write myself into a corner", where I haven't the energy to get back out, to make my point and make sure all my sentences are properly formed. So, I either have to stop droning on so much, or try harder to stay awake, or something, so that I can get back to finishing each blog on the night it was begun.
Well anyway.........I might go to Warner Park in Woodland Hills later on. The Pink Floyd tribute band "Which One's Pink" will be playing there at 6:30. Maybe I'll see ya there, and I will definitely see you back here tonight, at the usual time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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