10 Things You Didn't Know About Somewhere in Time

[Music] today we are going to explore a movie that came out in 1980 about a writer who arrives at a hotel who then through supernatural means gets caught up in the hotel's past nope not the shining but the other supernatural Hotel movie of 1980 somewhere in time which unlike the shining isn't a horror film but rather a tragic love story and tells the story of a playwright called Richard played by Christopher Reeve who travels to a seaside hotel to clear his head where he falls in love with a photo of an actress called Elise MacKinnon who stayed in the hotel while performing in a play in 1912 where Richard for the mental power of self hypnotism travels back to 1912 to meet the woman of his dreams but things aren't that easy as McInnis overprotective and sinister manager Robinson played by Christopher Plummer will stop at nothing to see that the two don't fall in lava somewhere in time is without a doubt one of the most saddest movies I've ever talked about seriously this movie is really sad but regardless today I'm going to look into 10 things that you didn't know about somewhere in time the movie that kicked off the 1980s cinematic time travel movie craze sorry well let's check it out [Music] you Stu yes number ten based on a book somewhere in time is based on the 1975 novel bid time return which was written by acclaimed writer Richard Matheson Matheson has had a long career in writing science fiction and even wrote several episodes of The Twilight Zone including little girl lost which was the inspiration for the movie poltergeist it was while on a camping trip with his family and passing through the Pipers Opera House in Nevada the Matheson saw an old picture of an actress called Maude Adams who was a big Broadway star of the early 1900s Matheson fell in love with the photo and wondered what if someone else fell in love with the picture and went back in time to see Adams and this was the genesis for bid time return in order to write the book Matheson stayed at the Hotel de Coronado where the novel actually takes place and again himself in the mindset he even acted out the part of the Richard character in his room where he reeked loosed himself with only his voice recorder as his companion number 9 a favor for making jaws too [Music] bedtime returns started its production into movie adaptation in 1976 when producer Steven Simon found a copy of the book and fell in love with it and teamed up with Madison to write a screenplay Universal Pictures got involved in French director Jena Schwartz was suggested because he had just directed jaws - which was a massive hit sequel wise Schwartz fell in love with the novel and immediately got involved in the project even helping come up with the story's new title somewhere in time however as soon as the project got started and nearly finished as there were suddenly some resistance from Universal who felt that the movie wouldn't be very commercial - which Schwartz owned a meeting with the powers that be and basically said to them hey remember that time I made that impossibly difficult movie Jaws - for you guys which made a lot of money yeah don't you think you guys owe me a favor so it was because of that that Universal put somewhere in time back on track it did however get its budget cut down to four million dollars of which before it was double that number eight differences from the book as we've all book to movie adaptations there are many interesting differences between somewhere and time and it's original novel bid time return the most glaring difference is the fact that in the novel the Richard character is diagnosed with a brain tumor and the novel even hints that his time travel experience was a hallucination fever dream caused by his tumor it is the tumor that eventually kills the Richard character after his experience whereas in the movie richard has no tumor and dies of a broken heart in the film Richard travels from 1980 to 1912 whereas in the book he goes from 1971 to 1896 the movie takes place at the Grand Hotel Michigan unlike the book which takes place in the Hotel de Coronado in California there are actually tons of differences but the one I find the most fascinating is the character Robinson who to me in both book and film is the most interesting character thanks to his mysterious all-knowing knowledge in the book is described a he's psychic but maybe it's just me but in the movie I always felt like there are subtle little suggestions that Robinson is also a time traveler who has gone back in time to protect MacKinnon's career from Richard of which got destroyed after their brief love affair what if I was to also tell you that the 1979 coin that sent Richard back to 1980 couldn't be put in Richards pocket by Robinson and thus breaking his hypnosis and sending him back after all after richard has tied up in the barn we don't see Robinson again did the coin also send him back to when he came from number 7 casting process Christopher Reeve was off at the part of Richard because at that time he had made it big starring as Superman in fact the very year somewhere in time came out Superman 2 was also released Reeve was interested in the role because at that time that the parts he was mainly being offered were macho action movie roles but Reeve was keen to show his acting chops rather than his muscle his biggest reservations was making the time travel aspect believable but he took a leap of faith and went with it according to director Gina Schwartz former Bond girl Jane Seymour was cast in the role of Elise MacKinnon because she was the only actress who answered no when asked during her audition if she had ever been in love it then also became apparent that she had amazing chemistry with Raven and it's that chemistry which gives the movie its power Christopher Plummer took on the role of Robinson because he has a love of time-travel stories and also because of the complexities of the character also a then-unknown William H Macy stars as an extra in the party scene at the start of the movie and the stories writer Richard Matheson also has a cameo in the film number 6 tragedy of the music so the question is who could compose somewhere in time and recapture the movie sadness and roar emotions for its movie score well who else better to turn to than James Bond film composer John berry of course berry got involved because he was friends with Jane Seymour and she asked him to score the picture and after watching it he wanted to do it meaning Barry would be composing somewhere in time as opposed to the next James Bond film for your eyes only what adds to the sadness of the music is that not too long before both Barry's parents had sadly died and somewhere in home was his first score since their passing I believe this probably led to the tragedy of the music Barry himself said that he doesn't normally write like that it was nice that the composer got to express his emotions through scoring a sad movie like somewhere in time rather than just going off to do another Bond film business as usual number 5 release our hottest release somewhere in time made nine point seven million dollars on a four million dollar budget so although it made its money back it still wasn't a huge earner for universal and was considered a disappointment the critics at the time were also harsh - somewhere in time when talking about somewhere in time famed critic Roger Ebert said isn't it a little futile to travel 68 years backward into time for a one-night stand and forever stated that the time travel aspect is quote a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that no one really cares about end quote clearly I think in this situation he was wrong so why didn't the movie perform too well well there are two theories one being problems with its marketing on the account that there was an actor's strike at the time and neva Reeve or Seymour could talk about the movie or give interviews the other being Jake and Elwood themselves as somewhere in time came out the same week as the Blues Brothers which was a huge mega hit thankfully as time has gone on somewhere in time has developed a huge fan base making it a cult movie number four conventions [Music] thanks to VHS somewhere in time has become a treasured classic with an adoring fan base that holds a convention once a year in October at the Grand Hotel the location where somewhere in time was filmed there have even been several occasions where members of the cast and crew also attend the somewhere in time conventions at the Grand Hotel the celebrations include screenings of the movie as well as discussion boards and an Edwardian costume ball heck the movie is so damn loved a plaque was put up in the location where the characters Richard and Elise meet for the first time was filmed and no doubt with the movie's 40th anniversary looming around the corner the celebrations will continue number 3 movie posters in time during the 80s there was a big craze of time-traveling movies with the likes of Time Bandits The Terminator Back to the Future and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and it kind of started with somewhere in time so the big question is how do you make a poster out of a movie that is one part period piece love story and one part science fiction time-travel caper the main poster that was used was this one which is very somber and has an old photo feel about it what with its use of grays and browns and looks as haunting as the movie a more animated version of this poster was also put together which uses a full-color illustration of Jane Seymour along with this strange doorway into another dimension going on here giving it a kind of Twilight Zone film then there was this one which focuses on the scene where Richard and Elise are about to get their funky love going on giving it a more sexy approach most home video releases have just been given this mundane cover of Reeve and Seymour sitting on a beach which frankly just makes it look boring and like some kind of wishy-washy period piece I don't know personally I prefer the original movie posters to be honest number 2 Titanic connection [Music] whether intentional or coincidental there are actually a lot of similarities between somewhere in time and James Cameron's Titanic movie besides the fact that they are both tragic love stories the parallels between the two movies are striking so here are a few of them both movie starred in modern times before the main story shifts to the past both movies start off of the main female protagonist as an elderly lady both movies feature a MacGuffin that connects the past to the present in somewhere in time it's a fob watch which by the way wasn't in the novel and in Titanic it's the heart of the ocean diamond necklace both movies take place in 1912 by considering Titanic actually sank in 1912 all at that pass in both movies the female love interest is of upper-class nobility whereas the male love interest is seen as a peasant who actually has to convince and fight for the love of the upper-class female protagonist in both movies the male leads are / friended by a large framed eccentric woman in both movies there is a jealous rival who will stop at nothing to prevent our main lovers from being together both movies see the male lead die in the climax and if all these similarities weren't enough to convince you both movies end with a scene of the main lovers being reunited in heaven all these similarities will leave you scratching your head and wondering if James Cameron was a massive fan of somewhere in time number one after life imitating art in the movies tragic conclusion we see the Richard character literally die of sadness and grief where thanks to camerawork is suggest that Richard is having an out-of-body experience before moving on to heaven where Elise is waiting for him it may seem corny by today's standards but still more deep and powerful than the books ending where Richard succumbs to a brain tumor however what makes this scene even more powerful is that Christopher Reeve stated that after his tragic horse riding accident he was given a drug which he was allergic to causing him to flatline for 50 seconds and had a very similar out-of-body experience where he could feel himself floating out of his body and looking down himself very similar to what was seen in the film until he returned realizing that his time was not up yet Reeve sadly did pass away in 2004 making this scene even more tragic and haunting in modern viewings as it's a reminder that the world lost a very talented actor [Music] so that was my look into somewhere in time the haunting and tragic love story that revolves around the mysteries of time travel check it out it's a wonderful film but keep in mind it's not for the faint of heart and it is heavy viewing not a simple easy movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon but definitely a rewarding one to watch when you feel like watching a more involved movie anyway I'm minty and if you ever find yourself time-traveling then make sure you don't have any coins from 1979 in your pockets it'll only end in tragedy see ya [Music] [Music]

Channel: Minty Comedic Arts

Views: 519,719

Rating: 4.8863358 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: y45uE6Tbqts

Length: 14min 56sec (896 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 26 2019