Somewhere in Time (film)

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox film Somewhere in Time is a 1980 American romantic fantasy drama film from Universal Pictures, directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour and Christopher Plummer. It is a film adaptation of the novel Bid Time Return (1975) by Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay.

Reeve plays Richard Collier, a playwright who becomes obsessed with the photograph of a young woman at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. Through self-hypnosis, he transports himself back in time to the year 1912 to find love with actress Elise McKenna (portrayed by Seymour). He comes into conflict with Elise's manager, William Fawcett Robinson (portrayed by Plummer), who attempts to deter him, fearing that romance would derail her career.

The film is known for its musical score composed by John Barry, featuring pianist Roger Williams. The 18th variation of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is also used several times.

In 2018, Seymour disclosed that she and Reeve fell in love while working on the film. However, they broke up after Reeve found out his ex-girlfriend was expecting their child. The two remained close friends for the rest of Reeve's life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Despite negative critical reception and modest box office receipts in its original release, the movie developed a cult following.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Plot

In 1972, college theater student Richard Collier celebrates the debut of his new play. An elderly woman approaches him, places an ornate gold pocket watch in his hand, and pleads, "Come back to me."

Eight years later, Richard is a successful playwright living in Chicago. While struggling with writer's block after breaking up with his girlfriend, he takes a road trip. Passing the Grand Hotel, he has the impulse to stay there. In the hotel's Hall of History, he becomes enthralled with a vintage photograph of Elise McKenna, an early-20th-century stage actress. Research at the library shows that she is the woman who gave him the pocket watch. Richard visits Laura Roberts, Elise's former housekeeper and companion. She reveals that Elise died the night she gave Richard the watch. Among Elise's personal effects is a book on time travel written by his old college professor, Dr. Gerard Finney,Template:Efn and a miniature Grand Hotel music box she commissioned that plays the 18th variation of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff, his favorite musical piece.

Having fallen in love with Elise, Richard becomes obsessed with traveling back to 1912 and meeting her. He visits Finney, who believes that he briefly time-traveled through the power of self-suggestion. Richard outfits himself with a vintage suit and 1912 currency. He fills a coin pocket in the suit with pocket change before realizing that modern coinage would break the spell, then empties the pocket. He attempts to will himself to 1912 using tape-recorded suggestions. The attempt fails, but he realizes he will succeed after finding a 1912 hotel register containing his signature.

He makes another attempt, hiding the tape recorder after realizing it was a reminder of the present. When he awakens in 1912, he finds Elise walking by the lake. Upon meeting him, she asks, "Is it you?” Her manager, William Fawcett Robinson, intervenes and sends Richard away. Although Elise is initially uninterested, Richard pursues her until she agrees to accompany him on a stroll the following afternoon. He asks what Elise meant by "Is it you?" Elise reveals that Robinson had predicted that she would meet a man who will change her life and that she should be afraid. On a rowboat, Richard hums Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody, which intrigues Elise as she had never heard it before, its premiere still decades later. Richard shows her the pocket watch she will give him in 60 years.

Richard attends Elise's play, where she recites an impromptu romantic monologue while making eye contact with him. In the interval, Elise poses for a photograph and, once more, makes eye contact with Richard, breaking into a radiant smile. This is the photograph Richard saw hanging at the hotel. During the play, Richard receives a message from Robinson requesting an urgent meeting. Robinson wants him to leave Elise so she can fulfill his prediction of stardom on the stage. When Richard declares his intention to stand by Elise for the rest of her life, Robinson has him beaten and bound inside the stables. Robinson tells Elise that Richard has left. Richard wakes the next morning and frees himself. The acting company has left for Denver, but Elise has stayed behind to find him. They go to her room, express their love, and make love. Elise checks the time of day on his pocket watch. They agree to marry, and Elise promises to buy Richard a new suit, as his was fashionable before 1900. Emptying pockets, Richard discovers he had missed a penny with a 1979 mint date. This modern item breaks the hypnotic suggestion, pulling Richard into the present.

He awakens in 1980, physically weakened by the time travel. His attempts to return to 1912 are unsuccessful. He despondently wanders the hotel grounds and finally stops eating. The hotel manager finds him catatonic in his hotel room, but he dies before he can be taken to a hospital. Richard is reunited with Elise in the afterlife.

Cast

• Christopher Reeve as Richard Collier
• Jane Seymour as Elise McKenna
  • Susan French as Older Elise
• Christopher Plummer as William Fawcett Robinson
• Teresa Wright as Laura Roberts
• Bill Erwin as Arthur Biehl
  • Sean Hayden as 5-year-old Arthur in 1912
• George Voskovec as Dr. Gerard Finney
• John Alvin as Arthur's father
• Eddra Gale as Genevieve
• Tim Kazurinsky as a photographer in 1912
• William H. Macy as a critic in the 1972 scene (before Elise hands the watch to Richard)
• Don Franklin as tourist in Hall of History #2

Richard Matheson, who wrote the original novel and screenplay, appears in a cameo role as a 1912 hotel guest. He is astonished by Richard's having cut himself shaving with a straight razor. Richard Matheson's daughter, Ali, is credited as a student in 1980.

George Wendt is credited as a student in the same scene, but his role was cut as the scene was changed to in medias res.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Reception

File:Grand Hotel 2008.jpg

The Grand Hotel where the film was shot

Although the film was well received during its previews,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it was derided by critics upon release and underperformed at the box office.

In a TCM interview, Jane Seymour stated: Template:Cquote

NEA syndicated columnist Dick Kleiner attended Universal's press party at the Grand Hotel: Template:Blockquote

Box office

Domestically, the film had gross receipts of $9.7 million on a $4 million budget.<ref name=NYTimes1979 />

The film was well received in the then British Hong Kong. It was screened exclusively at the Template:Ill in Causeway Bay, the most luxurious cinema in Hong Kong at that time, starting from September 12, 1981. Due to its excellent reputation and box office, it continued to be screened at the Palace Theatre until April 22, 1982, for a total of 223 days. This set the record for the longest continuous screening of a film in Hong Kong at that time, and it also kept the theatre itself full for three consecutive months. In the end, the film earned HKD 9.38 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing international film of the year 1982 in Hong Kong.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Critical response

Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 52% of 21 film critics have given the film a positive review; the rating average is 5.9 out of 10.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 29 based on 7 reviews, signifying "Generally unfavorable reviews".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

Somewhere in Time received several awards, including Saturn Awards for Best Costume, Best Music, and Best Fantasy Film. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Jean-Pierre Dorleac).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Soundtrack

Template:Refimprove The film's original musical score was composed and conducted by John Barry, who was suggested by Jane Seymour, a personal friend.Template:Cn The producers had been considering a score based on the 18th variation of Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," which is used in the film several times.Template:Cn

Barry wrote the score at a creative and prolific time in his career, scoring the music for films such as Raise the Titanic, High Road to China, and the highly acclaimed Body Heat, all within an 18-month period.

The music has been released on two albums, neither of which are from the original sessions from the film itself. The album was a series of re-recordings with highlights of the score recorded to fit onto two sides of an LP. The original release from MCA Records has nine tracks.

1. Somewhere in Time (2:58)
2. The Old Woman (2:49)
3. The Journey Back in Time (4:22)
4. A Day Together (6:02)
5. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (composed by Rachmaninov) (2:57)
6. Is He the One? (3:10)
7. The Man of My Dreams (1:35)
8. Return to the Present (4:04)
9. Theme from "Somewhere in Time" (3:20)

Very few copies of the album were pressed, with limited circulation.Template:Cn Following cable television airings the following spring, Universal pressed 500,000 more copies.Template:Cn

A later release of the score was released on the Varèse Sarabande label. It was recorded in 1998 by the Royal Scottish Orchestra, conducted by John Debney:

1. Somewhere in Time (3:37)
2. Old Woman (1:00)
3. Grand Hotel (1:22)
4. 1912 (1:42)
5. Thanks (1:20)
6. June 27 (1:32)
7. Room 417 (1:04)
8. The Attic (4:07)
9. Near the Lake (2:14)
10. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (composed by Rachmaninov) (3:06)
11. Is He the One? (0:56)
12. A Day Together (2:31)
13. Rowing (1:29)
14. The Man of My Dreams (1:22)
15. Razor (1:12)
16. Total Dismay (4:07)
17. Coin (0:28)
18. Whimper (3:20)
19. Somewhere in Time (end credits) (4:55)

On July 13, 2021, a limited edition album was released by La-La Land Records with an expanded presentation of Barry's music. Tracks 1-17 are presentation of the score, followed by source music and alternates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1. Theme from Somewhere in Time - Performed by Roger Williams (pianist); Produced by Michael Lloyd 3:26
2. The Grand Hotel 2:04
3. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Piano Solo by Chet Swiatkowski) 2:54
4. The Old Woman (Film Version) 2:49
5. June 27 2:03
6. Room 417 1:11
7. The Journey Back in Time 4:29
8. Is He the One? (Film Version) 3:13
9. A Day Together (Film Version) 2:31
10. Rowing 1:15
11. The Man of My Dreams 1:42
12. That's It :40
13. Razor 1:05
14. Total Dismay 3:21
15. Coin :37
16. Return to the Present 4:10
17. A Day Together (End Credits) 6:08
18. After Party 2:03
19. Car Jazz 2:00
20. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Alternate) - Piano Solo by Chet Swiatkowski 3:03
21. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Music Box) 2:11
22. Is He the One? (Alternate Excerpt) 2:21
23. My Melancholy Baby 2:02
24. Oh, You Beautiful Doll 3:30
25. In the Good Old Summer Time :37
26. I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad) 1:53
27. Wisdom of the Heart 1:09
28. Somewhere in Time (Piano Theme) 1:59
29. Rowing (Alternate) 1:18
30. Razor (Alternate) :51
31. Coin (Alternate) :32
32. Somewhere in Time (Theme Variation) 1:46
33. Finale and End Credits (From the Motion Picture Somewhere in Time) 4:57

Tracks in bold are previously unreleased. Tracks in italics contain previously unreleased material.

Legacy

File:Somewhere in Time Rock.jpg

A stone monument located at one of the filming locations

Despite reviews calling the film "horrible" and a "superficial tear jerker", the International Network of Somewhere In Time Enthusiasts (I.N.S.I.T.E.), an official fan club, was formed in 1990 and continues to meet regularly.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the month of October, the Grand Hotel hosts a Somewhere in Time Weekend, with events such as a large-screen viewing of the film, panel discussions with some of the film's principals and crew, and a costume ball of members dressed in Edwardian attire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The film was mentioned by characters as an example of popular culture time travel in the film Avengers: Endgame (2019).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ken Davenport produced a theatrical adaptation of the story with assistance from Matheson on the story book.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The adaptation received New York workshops and a full production at Portland Center Stage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Due to the popularity of the film in Hong Kong, singer Adam Cheng recorded a Cantopop cover version (如在夢中; lit. "Like in a Dream") that was adapted from the theme music of the film in 1982, and the song was included in Cheng's album "Template:Ill".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan
• List of films featuring time loops

External links

• Template:AFI film
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