The Technicolor Time Machine
A comedic time-travel novel satirizing Hollywood filmmaking.
Harry Harrison's 1967 novel *The Technicolor Time Machine* blends time travel with comedy, taking aim at Hollywood's absurdities. It was originally serialized in three installments of *Analog Science Fiction and Fact* from March to May 1967 under the title "The Time-Machined Saga."
The story follows Barney Hendrickson, a struggling film director trying to save his job and his studio. He recruits a mad scientist, a crooked studio owner, a jazz tuba player, a cowboy, two famously dim-witted movie stars, and a real Viking from the 11th century. His plan is to shoot a historical epic in the past, but the project ends up rewriting history in unexpected ways.
Desperate as Climactic Studios nears collapse—thanks to owner L. M. Greenspan's embezzlement—Hendrickson drags Greenspan to see Professor Hewitt, who claims to have built a time machine. A demonstration involving a bottle sent seven microseconds into the past fails to impress. Hendrickson then cranks the machine to maximum, sending Greenspan's cigar three seconds into the future and burning out the circuitry. Greenspan is convinced enough to fund a replacement, disguised as a prop for a horror movie.
Hendrickson's plan is to film *Viking Columbus* in the past with a tiny crew, using locals as extras paid in wampum and beads. He sends Chinese-American screenwriter Charley Chang to a barren Devonian Catalina Island for a month to write the script. On the first trip, they capture a Viking named Ottar in 11th-century Orkney. With Ottar as guide and interpreter—paid in Jack Daniel's—they transport a sound stage into the past and begin filming. The stars are narcissistic he-man Ruf Hawk and sex goddess Slithey Tove.
Back in the present, bank auditors are days away from discovering the studio's cooked books. Hewitt explains that the time machine must return to the present a moment after departure before going elsewhere, meaning time in the present is lost forever. Hendrickson plans to stay in the past as long as needed, but Ruf is injured in an attack and refuses to act. Then the time machine breaks down in the present, taking hours to repair.
Improvising, Hendrickson casts Ottar in the lead and decides to stay in the past until filming is complete.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Harry Harrison
- Cover Artist
- Ellen Raskin
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Science fiction
- Publisher
- Doubleday
- Release Date
- 1967
- Media Type
- Print (hardback & paperback)
- Pages
- 190 pp
- Isbn
- 0-8125-3970-2
- Isbn Note
- (1985 Tor Books edition)
- Oclc
- 70865575
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The narrative revolves around the efforts of a mediocre film director, Barney Hendrickson, to save his job, his livelihood and, incidentally, the studio he works for. To do this, he enlists a mad scientist, the crooked studio owner, a jazz tuba player, a cowboy, two fabulously stupid movie stars, and a real live ocean-crossing Viking. He ends up making history, but in a way he never dreamed of. The plot involves using a time machine to film a historical movie in the past with a minimal crew, capturing a Viking named Ottar, and eventually discovering that the colony they filmed was the actual founding of Vinland.
Reader's Guide
The novel is significant as a satirical take on Hollywood's excesses and the paradoxes of time travel. It blends science fiction with comedy, using the premise of a time machine to critique film production and historical accuracy. The story's resolution hinges on a bootstrap paradox, where the film crew's actions in the past become the historical events they intended to depict. The novel also includes a coda revealing that the Viking Ottar is actually Thorfinn Karlsefni, and that the film's actress Slithey Tove, playing Gudrid, becomes the mother of Snorri Thorfinnsson, an ancestor of many Icelanders. The BBC produced a radio play adaptation for Saturday Night Theatre, broadcast on September 5, 1981.
Did You Know?
- The novel was first serialized in Analog Science Fiction and Fact under the title 'The Time-Machined Saga.'
- The story includes a character named Slithey Tove, a sex goddess who accidentally becomes the mother of Snorri Thorfinnsson.
- The Viking captured for the film, Ottar, is revealed to be Thorfinn Karlsefni, the historical leader of the Vinland expedition.
- The BBC produced a radio play adaptation of the novel for Saturday Night Theatre, broadcast on September 5, 1981.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Technicolor Time Machine about?
It's a 1967 comedic science-fiction novel in which a desperate film director assembles a wild crew to travel back in time and shoot a historical epic on location, all while Harrison takes a sharp satirical jab at Hollywood's inner workings.
Who is the protagonist of The Technicolor Time Machine?
Barney Hendrickson, a struggling director on the verge of losing his job and his studio. To save both, he drags in a mad scientist, a crooked studio boss, a jazz tuba player, a cowboy, two notoriously dim movie stars, and a genuine 11th-century Viking to execute his time-travel filming scheme.
Where and when was The Technicolor Time Machine first published?
The story ran as a three-part serial in Analog Science Fiction and Fact from March through May 1967, originally carrying the title 'The Time-Machined Saga.' It was later collected and released as a standalone novel under its current name.
What genre and tone does The Technicolor Time Machine have?
It sits squarely at the crossroads of science fiction and comedy, using a time-travel premise as a vehicle to lampoon the absurd machinery of Hollywood filmmaking rather than to explore hard-SF concepts.
Why is The Technicolor Time Machine notable in Harry Harrison's bibliography?
It stands out as one of Harrison's more lighthearted entries, pairing the classic time-travel setup with a pointed comedic skewer of the film industry rather than the more serious or speculative themes he is often associated with.
More in Novels by Harry Harrison 1-22
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