The Time Machine, directed by Hungarian-American filmmaker George Pal, was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1960. This science-fiction film won an Academy Award for Best Effects, Special effects the following year. It was made for an estimated budget of $750,000 and brought in $2.6 million at the global box office. Rod Taylor was selected to play the protagonist of Pal's film, this was his first leading man role in a feature film.
Pal's production company George Pal Productions would produce the film while the screenplay was written by David Duncan based on H.G. Wells book. The film would become the seminal work for such films and television shows as the 2002 remake of the same name, Time After Time and the 1993 sequel/documentary Time Machine: The Journey Back. Pal was known for his stop-motion animation technique, but found it difficult to get studios in America behind his picture. Fortunately, it was MGM's British studio that picked it up and the rest is history.
