Time Travelers (1976 TV Movie) User Reviews (17)

It sure looks like Irwin Allen was trying to revive "The Time Tunnel".

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 28 July 2011]

The "Time Travelers" appears to be a failed attempt by producer Irwin Allen to revive his old "Time Tunnel" TV show in the 1970s. The plots are very similar—though in this latter version there was no fancy tunnel nor the facility that housed it—it was more of a 'poor man's version'. Now this is not to say that it's a bad film at all—it's a very good made for TV movie and I wish it had resulted in a new series.

In this film, two doctors from the present go back in time. The reason is not because of idle curiosity but because there is an outbreak of a deadly fever and doctors of 1975 are so far powerless to cure it. However, back just before the Great Chicago Fire, an obscure doctor did seem to have some success in treating this same illness—and these two men are determined to discover his secret (which had, incidentally, burned up with him in the fire.

Richard Basehart stars as this 19th century doctor and the rest of the cast was made up mostly of unknowns. The production values are decent—about what you'd expect for a made for TV film or pilot. Most importantly, the writing was quite good—with an intriguing story, decent dialog and a few nice twists. While it's not brilliant or super-original, it is a nice look into what might have been had the film gotten the attention of the network big-wigs.

Message from the future

[pietclausen · 7/10 · 14 March 2019]

This review comes to you from the future. Having watched this movie in 2019, I hasten to let you know it's a charming movie and enjoyable to watch.

This message is mainly produced for those fans who watched this movie some 8 years ago and earlier. You might come across some other messages from my era as we are able to time travel without moving at all.

Signing off and going back to my time. Goodbye and good luck!

The key to a cure comes from a man who died 100 years ago.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 13 June 2023]

Going to the past on a risky mission has many dangerous possibilities, especially if you decide to stay there for that old human emotion called love. Sam Groom and Tom Hallick head back to 1871 Chicago the day McLeary's cow chose to kick a lantern (and the bucket), and if it's not steak for dinner, it's going to mean the difference between life and death as they try to find the cure for a rare disease. Doctor Richard Basehart, who had just discovered a cure, died in the fire, and his notes were lost as well. Getting there and back quickly is imperative, and for one of them, falling for pretty Trish Stewart almost makes him make a deadly mistake.

Obviously a pilot for a series that wasn't picked up, it showed potential although I found Booth Colman's overplaying to make his scientist character seem like a clown and not a commanding medicine man. Fortunately, he disappears for the middle section, and Basehart gives a more commanding performance in the Chicago sequences. Still a very enjoyable time travel movie that keeps all the rules simple and clear, and has an ironic twist concerning the cure they find. Definitely worth watching!

Based on a story by Charles W. Byrd

[cbyrd1 · 25 February 2010]

This film was actually based on a story written by my father, author Charles W. Byrd, not Rod Serling. My father wrote the story in the late 1950s and it without his knowledge it ended up on ABC in 1976. Immediately upon seeing the film my father knew it was actually based on his original story. After some time (and litigation), a financial settlement was reached between ABC, Irwin Allen, and others and my father was given the rights to claim it as his work. Unfortunately, the film was never re-cut to include him as the creator of the story. In retrospect these events probably doomed the pilot from becoming a series. Its a shame my father was not given his due in creating this interesting and entertaining story.

likeable science fiction movie

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 26 July 2023]

Now that modern-day America is threatened by an epidemic, scientists do their best to find a cure. So far, however, all their efforts have been in vain. As part of a top-secret project, two brave men are sent back into the past in order to look up a doctor said to have cured similar cases...

"Time travelers" is an agreeable science fiction movie without great pretensions. While competent it is not particularly bold or innovative. The time travel theme is handled efficiently, but without intellectual fireworks. (As is well known, the time travel genre is ideal for writers who like to think up cunning puzzles and paradoxes.) Perhaps the movie works best as a tribute to the selfless devotion of doctors and nurses, who remain by the side of their patients where others would flee.

It is interesting to note that for Americans the nineteenth century represents a distant and venerable past, while most Europeans would look upon that era as only yesterday.

If you like the movie, be sure to look up "Timestalkers" with Klaus Kinski.

Good start, lousy finish

[HotToastyRag · 4/10 · 24 October 2022]

Time Travelers has a really interesting premise and story, but if you watch it, be prepared to for a cheap tv movie from the 1970s. While you can tell Irwin Allen put a lot of money into the production, it still comes across as cheap. The lighting is too bright, the makeup is overdone, and the costumes are too clean. Those three are always a losing combination when making a period piece. But still, if you like Rod Serling's stories and it interests you, you can try it for a matinee.

Sam Groom, a doctor in modern times, comes across a growing mysterious virus that could potentially sweep the country. There's no cure or information in sight, but Tom Hallick approaches him with a chance: together, they will travel back in time to 1871 and speak to Dr. Richard Basehart, who came across the same virus and cured it. All his records were burned in the Chicago Fire, so the only way to gain access to his research is to use time travel. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Not only does the production come across as a little disappointing, but the story deteriorates as well. It's as if Serling wrote the first half and handed it over to a first-time writer to finish up. One scene I found amusing was Basehart's entrance scene. He's seen attending to patients before the advent of sanitation. He doesn't wash his hands between patients, drops a pill on the floor and still gives it to a man to swallow, and takes a drink of the same sick man's water glass. In the modern era, we cringe to see his behavior, but back in the 1870s they thought nothing of it. So, you can try this movie if you want to, but don't be afraid to turn it off or have a good quality flick lined up to cleanse your palate.

Time Travel ON A BUDGET -or- "TIME DOCTOR"!

[profh-1 · 5/10 · 1 March 2023]

A group of scientists recruit a doctor to go BACK IN TIME to see if they can locate a lost cure for a rare disease that has reoccured after nearly a century, and threatens to become an epidemic. As expected, problems arise when the 2 men arrive in the wrong location, and several days later than planned-- AND, the doctor whose notes they desperately hope to find, has NO IDEA how his patients are managing to stay alive!

In between 2 of his big-budget, all-star "disaster" epics, Irwin Allen decided to take another stab at a time travel series. He'd previously tried to do a variation on "VOYAGE" with "CITY BENEATH THE SEA" (1971), and soon after would do a down-to-earth variation on "LOST IN SPACE" with his "SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON" tv series that ran from 1975-76. But legalities got in the way. The story was based on an unpublished novel, "A Time To Live" by Charles William Byrd (written in the late 1950s). But somehow, Rod Serling wound up writing a story so similar to it that a lawsuit erupted that kept the film from being broadcast for 2 years, and by the time it aired, any momentum of doing a series was already gone. (I'm reminded of how Herman Miller wrote a pilot for a series about a southwestern cop in New York City, "Ben Coogan", which got turned into a feature film instead. But then 2 years later, Glen Larson did the pilot for "McCLOUD", Miller sued, and in every subsequent episode, a credit read "created by Herman Miller", even though he never worked on the show! Seems to me there was the potential for a lawsuit over "LOST IN SPACE" in connection with Gold Key's earlier comic-book series, "Space Family Robinson"... Hollywood, huh?)

This is a very nice-looking, level-headed, intelligent project to be coming from Irwin Allen, who tended to stress "spectacle" and "schlock" more than good writing. But re-watching it today, for the first time in 47 years (!!!), I found it looked and felt just too much like your average "1970s" tv-movie. In other words, DULL as dirt, and somehow feeling CHEAP. I was betting most of the budget went into the costumes. I read the Old Chicago set was built for "HELLO, DOLLY" (1969)-- Allen, like Roger Corman, was a master of recycling. The Chicago fire footage came from "IN OLD CHICAGO" (1938)-- the entire run of Allen's "THE TIME TUNNEL" included stock footage from existing epic feature films. The "Stairway Into Time" was an idea swiped outright from 1970 episodes of Dan Curtis' "DARK SHADOWS" (though it looked a lot more modern), while the computer banks were the same NASA surplus equipment also seen in "VOYAGE", "LIS" and "TIME TUNNEL".

I'd say the best part of this was the cast. Heading things off was Sam Groom as "Dr. Clint Earnshaw". Apart from 5 episodes of "THE TIME TUNNEL" (I thought it was more than that), he also starred in 95 episodes of "DR. SIMON LOCKE", known in America as "POLICE SURGEON"! So you would have had trouble finding any actor more perfectly-suited to playing a TIME-TRAVELLING DOCTOR!

Tom Hallick is "Jeff Adams", who quit the astronaut training program and found the idea of traveling through history more exciting. I've only seen him in a few things, but one of them was Allen's "THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN NEMO" (1978), another variation on "VOYAGE" that is near-unwatchable.

Francine York is "Dr. Helen Sanders", this story's version of "Dr. Ann MacGregor" (Lee Meriweather). York seemed perpetually typecast as extremely-intelligent woman, which coupled with her stunning looks make for one very attractive lady.

Booth Colman is "Dr. Amos Cummings", this story's version of "Dr. Raymond Swain" (John Zaremba), except he seems to have a better idea what he's doing with his time machine than the old "TT" crew ever did. Another actor I've only seen in a few things, I most remember him as "Pat Chambers" in the unsold pilot-turned-feature, "MY GUN IS QUICK" (1957).

Walter Brooke is "Dr. Stafford", who seems less this story's "General Kirk" (Whit Bissell) than Federal Government contact. Among his long resume, I'd bet most will remember him as "District Attourney Frank Scanlon" from "THE GREEN HORNET" (1966-67).

Stealing the movie is Richard Basehart as "Dr. Joshua Henderson", the 1871 physician who's as baffled by the mystery illness as the 2 men from the future. Basehart gets to be a lot crankier than he usually was during his 4 seasons on "VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA".

Dort Clark has a small part as "Sharkey" (no, not "Chief Sharkey"), a drunken sailor infected by the disease. A very familiar face for me, I mainly know him from "THE MONKEES", where he played cops in 3 episodes.

I'm really glad this was included as an extra on the last disc of "THE TIME TUNNEL" set, but I can't imagine being in too much of a hurry to watch it again. As back in 1976, watching it now, I just kept wishing it were better than it is. One thing's for sure, this has to be the STRANGEST "doctor" show I've seen outside of "THE FUGITIVE".

Could have been a series

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 29 April 2021]

Time Travelers was scripted by Jackson Gillis (whose career stretched back to radio) from a story by Rod Serling (which led to a lawsuit, as Charles Willard Byrd claimed that this movie was taken from an unpublished 1959 book A Time To Live. Byrd and the producers reached a monetary settlement that allowed Byrd to claim the original story as his work). It was developed by Irwin Allen in the hopes that he could relaunch his series The Time Tunnel, but the litigation kept the show from being bought and it ended up running as an ABC Movie of the Week on March 19, 1976.

Dr. Clint Earnshaw (Sam Groom, Deadly Eyes) and Jeff Adams are trying to cure the XD virus that has been slowly wiping out humanity. When they discover that a similar disease had been seemingly cured around the time of the Chicago fire, they head back in time to see if they can learn anything from Dr. Joshua Henderson (Richard Basehart!) Jeff ends up falling for Henderson's niece Jane (Trish Stewart, who played Basehart's daughter in Mansion of the Doomed) and nearly stays behind. However, the timeline must be protected and our heroes end up saving the day, if not every person.

Director Alex Singer went to the Bronx's William Howard Taft High School with Stanley Kubrick and one of his first jobs was as the cinematographer on Kubrick's short Day of the Fight. He also made the films A Cold Wind in August, Glass Houses and Captain Apache*, but the majority of his credits were in television.

*Written by Night Train to Terror impressario Philip Yordan!

Time Traveling can be hot

[dmappin-1 · 8/10 · 7 May 2009]

Irwin Allen's "The Time Travelers" is a surprisingly good TV film. As previously mentioned in other reviews, Allen's record with sci-fi might lead the casual science fiction enthusiast to bypass this film. That, however, would be a mistake.

Without going into too many details, the film's slow moving story about present day doctors (in 1976) seeking a cure for a deadly flu virus outbreak just prior to the 1871 Great Chicago Fire (believe me, that is not an insult) builds methodically to its satisfying, if not a bit predictable, conclusion.

Based on a Rod Serling tale, this is the stuff of old style SF that is sorely missed in a lot of today's productions.

The cast is top-notch. The four lead actors, actors Sam Groom (an alum from Allen's "The Time Tunnel," Trish Stewart *, Tom Hallick and especially Richard Basehart provide a warm, thought provoking charm to this small scale but involving tale. One of the nice touches are the bit roles filled by relatively unknown, but experienced actors one might recognize from many of the TV/film productions of the 1970s.

*Stewart played Jane Henderson-- in another review here mistakenly identified Francine York filling that role.

This reviewer highly recommends this small, somewhat obscure film. Fortunately, it can be found on the boxed DVD set to Allen's "Time Tunnel." Incidentally, on that same DVD is the 2002 filmed pilot, an attempt to revive "The Time Tunnel." It too, is VERY satisfying. It is really too bad this production didn't make it as a new TV series.

Sensible Time Travel Story

[TVholic · 8/10 · 25 May 2002]

As a youngster, I was a fan of Irwin Allen's works. "Lost in Space" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" were afterschool fixtures on New York stations WNEW and WOR. To me as an adult, these shows don't hold up well. "Voyage" in particular degenerated into episode after episode of rubber-suited monsters, alien invaders, evil doubles and mind control in the later seasons, due mostly to chief writer William Welch, who also destroyed any semblance of logic in Allen's "The Time Tunnel" series.

Allen tried to revamp and revive that 1966 time travel series with this 1976 TV movie and pilot, going so far as bringing back Sam Groom as a cast member (he was a regular as the control room technician, Jerry). "Voyage" alumnus Richard Basehart likewise became a Special Guest Star. Trish Stewart later became better known to science fiction viewers as the female lead of "Salvage 1."

As it was, 1976 was a good year for television in general, and ABC reserved Friday nights for science fiction. In the doldrums before Star Wars burst onto the scene and changed the world, science fiction fans weren't very picky, but "Time Travelers" was surprisingly good. The acting wasn't Oscar caliber, but it was certainly serviceable. The plot actually made sense, unlike much of Allen's sci-fi. Also, unlike the Time Tunnel series and more recent shows, it didn't depend on a lot of action. No fistfights or car chases (or rather horse-drawn carriage chases) here. These men were thinkers, not fighters. Nevertheless, the story moves along at a snappy but not frenetic pace.

This was Allen at his best, a fine example of '70s vintage TV science fiction. There's little to no forced humor and precious little technobabble. Morton Stevens's theme is rather dated now, being very "mod" with synthesizers, but still somewhat catchy to those of us who don't care for today's bass-rich, melody-poor music.

Allen had a penchant for economizing, so there really wasn't much in the way of special effects here to distract from the story. Mostly fire footage recycled from the Fox film vaults. There were also the "modern" computers that reused panels of flashing lights, straight from the Irwin Allen warehouse. At least the set design in the period segment, with its ornate Victorian look, seems convincing enough to this layman's eyes.

As far as TV science fiction goes, you can do a lot worse. This is probably due in no small part to Rod Serling's original story. Alas, given Allen's track record, it's a foregone conclusion that this would have slipped very fast and far had the show been sold to a network. As it was, this was far superior to its ancestor, "The Time Tunnel," and also easily outshines Gene Roddenberry's failed TV pilots of the era, "Planet Earth," "Genesis II" and "Questor Tapes."

This movie was shown on the SciFi Channel occasionally, at least until recent years when the channel moved away from showing older movies. It's worth catching for anyone who's sick and tired of recent Star Trek and their "reset button" subgenre of time travel stories.

Update: This, along with the 2002 Time Tunnel pilot, is available on the last disc of the Time Tunnel series DVD box set. Finally, a chance for more people to see just how good this was.

What a Wonderful Movie!

[Enrique-Sanchez-56 · 10/10 · 30 October 2011]

I was really captivated by this wonderful pilot.

I am an enormous fan of the time travel genre, and intelligent sci-fi genre (not the cyber cowboy-cum-Star Wars-action-shoot-em-up kind of sci-fi)...and an avid fan of history and historical chronicles on film.

I should probably give credit where it is due, and that would be to ROD SERLING whose story was the solid germ which inspired this pilot/movie. We can't ever go wrong with SERLING, his was a great and yet in his time, woefully under-appreciated talent. Had the rest of the stories of this potential series been principally from his mind, I would venture to say it would have been a big hit.

I am so disappointed that it never went off the ground and I am perplexed at this fact after seeing this today. Another reviewer said that it would become dull eventually. I disagree vehemently. Was Quantum Leap dull? It was not and never jumped the shark! I am writing this just because the industry really needs to revisit this genre in a big way. We are bombarded all the time with time travel movies these days...and there must be a writer out there with deep knowledge of this genre and its foibles-to-avoid enough to make for intelligent television! We need MORE INTELLIGENT SCI-FI around. Not what the present SYFY garbage channel churns out in the past few years. SCI-FI is being DUMBED DOWN instead of lifting us up like the greatest OUTER LIMITS, TWILIGHT ZONE, OUT OF THE UNKNOWN, JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN, SCIENCE FICTION THEATER, TALES OF TOMORROW, ONE STEP BEYOND and a few others.

We need more INTELLIGENT TV, period! I recommend this movie for all ages.

Good update of The Time Tunnel

[fdixon-3 · 8/10 · 2 April 2006]

This time travel yarn was well done. The story was compelling and the acting was fine. Sam Groom (an alumnus of the Time Tunnel) plays a doctor drafted by the government to search for a cure to a flu virus that apparently had previously presented itself around the time of the Great Chicago Fire. Research indicated that a doctor (played by Richard Basehart) back then had cured scores of people but this cure was lost to time. (It was also good to see Basehart adding gravitas to the production.) The special effects were understated and the period clothing and sets were serviceable, both were believable. My only quibble with the show was that there did not seem to much to the time travel apparatus itself. There were a few computer flats with blinking lights and a room with a staircase that lead to the past. Adequate, but not awe inspiring like the Time Tunnel. The Time Tunnel set was massive in reality and also in the terms of the show. It created a true sense of wonder. Too bad they could not have married the two concepts. Good show nonetheless.

Irwin Allen's production of the Time Travelers

[disasterfilm84 · 10/10 · 27 November 2006]

Okay, Irwin Allen made this film after his enormous success of the Towering Inferno. It stands to me as a really good TV movie. the plot is some what strange, but you loose track of that after you really get into the movie. You watch it and are amazed at how fine the acting is. The characters are loosely based on the original Irwin Allen TV series the Time Tunnel (1966). I recently bought the series on DVD and was glad to see this was included, I can only hope that they will include other telefilms of Allens with the releasing of his other series on DVD. This film is watchable with the whole family and is worth watching.

Allen's Second Time Travel Attempt

[Sargebri · 7 February 2004]

This is the second attempt by Irwin Allen to do a series about time travel. The only thing that would have been different about this proposed series is that the travelers wouldn't have been lost in time as they were in the "Time Tunnel". All in all this was a pretty decent show, too bad it never did make it to series. I would have loved to have seen what interesting stories they would have come up with.

A revival attempt of "The Time Tunnel"

[sp27343 · 9/10 · 18 April 2001]

Irwin Allen made one last attempt at a weekly sci-fi series, and used his premise of time travel (used in his 66-67 series "Time Tunnel") as the center piece. This movie was an attempt at a more serious show, as Allen's earlier sci-fi attempts (Lost in Space, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) were very juvenial. Time Travelers (this movie) looked to be far more adult, using time travel to find a cure for a modern day (in this case 1976) epidemic devouring New Orleans around Mardi Gras time. Apparently similar symptoms were reported and cured in 1871 in Chicago. All in depth records of the illness (Woods Fever) and the doctor involved (played by Richard Basehart) perished in the great Chicago fire. The two lead characters; played by Sam Groom and Tom Hallick (two very competent actors--I wonder what has become of them?) travel back to Chicago, but due to a computer glitch they return the day before (instead of the planned week before) the great fire. They frantically search to find Dr. Henderson (Basehart) and question him as to how he has cured his patients. Alas, the cure is found to be the wine that Dr. Henderson brews himself, but by that time the fire has broken out and has destroyed his supply at his home, save half a bottle a drunk patient leaves with. The bottle is found and Groom and Hallick return to modern day just as the fire is about to destroy their return portal. The movie touchingly ends with Hallick (at a cemetary in modern day Chicago) finding the graves of Dr. Henderson, and his niece (played by Francine York) who did infact die during the fire as the hospital they worked in exploded. It would have been interesting if ABC had picked up the show and if it could have stayed as of a high quality. The writing and direction were top notch. This movie remains to this day a favorite of mine.

a well done time travel movie

[powersroc · 1 September 2004]

This is actually a superior TV pilot coming from Irwin Allen, which is a big surprise. Allen is known to many sf fans as producing some of the most horrendous sf series ever to be broadcast.While his shows did have imaginative sets,fx, & good actors, they also had silly plots, little logic & no character development.Like some, I have fond memories of his series while growing up,but to sit through them as an adult is awful. Rod Serling was involved in the writing of this TV movie & that would explain the quality that comes through. And to Allen's credit, he did not tamper much with it creating a solid, intelligent story. For once. Time travel stories can be fun when dealing with the past because like the travelers, we know what is going to happen. We have knowledge that nobody else does from that era. The problem that crops up is that the accepted rule regarding time travel is that one should not tamper with past events.No matter how good the intentions are, they could spell disaster in the past & on through to the present timeline. I f that's the case do we want to watch the heroes go back in time each week only to have their hands tied? If they cannot take action for fear of altering events, then what can they do that would be of interest to the viewers? Standing by to only observe history unfolding without becoming a part of it would make for a dull series. But this movie manages to keep our interest with an intriguing plot. As a weekly show though, I doubt they could have kept it up.

Sci-Fi & Disaster

[StuOz · 31 July 2003]

Two time travellers go back in time and must deal with a city on fire.

An all-round great film with a wonderful performance from Richard Basehart as the doctor.

Irwin Allen combining his two favourite genres, science fiction and disaster, and the results are most pleasing in the later sections of the film.

Allen's regular 1970s TV composer, Richard LaSalle, does not score this film but his replacement composer does a fine job.

The two lead actors playing the time travellers could have been better...but all things considered...The Time Travellers is outstanding.