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(Above)
Sketch of a "Time Velocipede" by designer Alain Gadbois |
Some
have assumed that Wells may have
been thinking of a bicycle-shape when he originally
envisioned the physical design of his Time Machine. This assumption is
based on two points: first, Wells appears to describe
the seat of the Machine as a saddle. Secondly, Wells was an avid cyclist
and is often shown riding or posed next to his
bicycle. |
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-
Wells scholar Fran�ois O. Beaulieu
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(Below) H. G. Wells,
with his wife Jane. "The writer-laureate of the cyclists," according
to biographer Michael
Foot.
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When
I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.
- H. G.Wells
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Whether by chance or
design, the first line in George Pal's "The Time Machine" is delivered by
a man riding a bicycle. |
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'Scuse me, Mr. Filby!
Cyclist who nearly runs
Filby (Alan Young) over in the opening scene of "The Time Machine" (1960). |
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This still of a
pleased George Pal on the set of "Destination Moon" (1950) with his
personalized bicycle suggests that Pal had an interest in cycling, even if
only to travel around the studio lot.
Wells's humorous
bicycling novel of 1896, "The Wheels of Chance," concerns itself with a
chance meeting between two cyclists. On the set of "The Time Machine,"
cyclists met by chance yet again. |
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Mike Hiltner, an
amateur U.S. cyclist and Olympic road racer, had won the
1958 California State Championship prior to attending Santa Monica City
College. At college, he saw a notice posted on a bulletin board calling for movie
extras under 5' 6" in height. |
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Hiltner answered the
call and was cast as one of the Eloi in Pal's film.
Someone in the MGM publicity department got wind of the fact that there
was a celebrity in the midst of all the blonde-wigged Eloi and set up a
photo op with Hiltner and Yvette Mimieux, which resulted in the recently
re-discovered picture seen
at right.
"I only vaguely
remember Yvette," says Hiltner, who now is known by the name Victor
Vincente of America. "In those days, I was so naive and timid, and had no
social skills - though I was always attracted to women." |
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According to "The Quotable Cyclist," Victor went on to become became an
"early icon" of mountain biking.
As Victor Vincente
of America, he set a U.S. cross-country record, was '64 and '65 California
champion - as well as 1965 National champion. "
"I was on the
Olympic teams in 1960 Rome, and 1964 Tokyo," Victor reports.
What's Victor Vincente of America up to these days?
Traveling a few
times per year to visit friends and putting in lots of miles on the bike
(still a main interest in his life, closely rivaled, he says, by his
"pursuit of women," thus making Yvette "the one who got away").
At sixty, he
jokingly refers to himself as a "retired old geezer when at home."
"All in all, "
Victor says, "I am enjoying being alive more than ever."
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(Below) MGM's original caption for the Mike Hiltner Photograph.
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(Left) Original illustration
for H.G. Wells's "The Wheels of Chance (1896)
The "Wheels of
Chance" indeed!
"You must not think
that a strain is put on coincidence...Indeed, it was a highly probable
thing."
H.G. Wells, "The Wheels of Chance." |
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