The Yesterday Machine

This movie, its poor production values and picture qualities, and absolutely ABYSMAL Sound qualities aside, is actually a pretty effective sci-fi Horror story, told to the viewer in a pretty much intelligent manner.

I have always liked the actor TIM HOLT, going back to his playing the clean-cut young Prospector in "The Treasure of The Sierra Madre" with Bogart and Walter Huston. In this flick, his Police Lieutenant Partane character adds some semblance of credibility to his role and the overall storyline.

And Jack Herman, the apparently LIFELONG Yiddish Theatre Actor, who plays the "ESCAPED, VIRULENT NAZI SCIENTIST, Ernest VON HAUSER," absolutely steals the show, with his Mad Scientist's "Time-Travel Slave and Death Camp" of a deserted farmhouse, in Texas, no less!(* Actually, the Lonestar State has always been one of THE "All-American" Locales, for great MONSTER, HORROR and SCI-FI, Cinematic "Carnage"!)

All the usual mad Nazi "thoughts" and CRUELTY is there of course, in "The Yesterday Machine," yet there is indeed thoughtful DIALOGUE, as Mr. HERMAN'S Von Hauser character explains the "real science" behind time travel, to the heroic news gatherer-guy, "Jimmy Crandell," whom I believe is played by James Britton.

There are a couple of VERY WEAK, climactic plot points as the film closes out, but this one is still an A-OK to Good piece of SCHLOCKO Movie "AUTEUR-SHIP," let us, RIGHTLY, call it such!

Jim Crandall or Callie (James Britton) gets shot with a mini-ball. Majorette, Margie De Mar (Linda Jenkins) disappears. Reporter Jim Crandall (James Britton) and inept nightclub singer Sandy De Mar (Ann Pellegrino), who happens to be the sister of Margie, searches for the missing Margie near an old Dallas farmhouse and ends up in the lab of mad scientist Professor Ernest Von Hauser (Jack Herman.) Will they ever be seen again or will the mad scientist, using his time machine, bring back his friend Schicklgruber from the past and restore the rightful order of history?

The acting is hokey; it is probably on purpose. The background music will grate on your nerves. Shot in black and white. The accents are east Texas so we know it was made in Dallas and not Ft. Worth.

The only redeeming portion of the film is the mad scientist who takes more time than usual to explain Einstein and does not overact the part. Is he wearing Tom Ford glasses?

We are left with these thoughts: "Yesterday should be left alone. Because today the world has enough problems just trying to be sure we'll have a tomorrow." - Police Lt. Partane (Tim Holt.)

Twenty years after the end of WW2, a former Nazi scientist plans to alter the outcome of the war by sending super-weapons that he has perfected back in time to 1945. Don't get your hopes up - neither WW2 nor super weapons appear in this dull, low budget sci-fi thriller. Despite starring Tim Holt (best known for the classic 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' (1948)), the highlight of this film is the opening baton twirling by Linda Jenkins (which more than makes up for her voice and acting ability). The film has little to recommend it beyond an interesting premise: the script, acting and direction are amateurish, the production values are dismal, the music/sound is terrible (notably the silly musical cues such as the snare drum during the lengthy 'debate' about whether Der Führer was a genius or a madman) and the pacing is leaden (especially the pseudo-physics lesson that wastes a sizable portion of the 85 minute running time). The only interesting character is the unrepentant übermensh villian Prof. Ernst Von Hauser, Jack Herman's over-the-top, ranting Nazi-mad-scientist (complete vith a 'Hogan's Heroes'-style German accent and a compulsive desire to explain things). There are some nice cinematographic touches, such as the reflections of neon signs on the car hood and of the time machine's lights in Von Hauser's glasses and the images of poor Margie (the aforementioned Jenkins) strapped in a chair, surrounded by pillars of flashing lights, and back-dropped by a large swastika flag are surprisingly effective. Despite these minor pluses, 'The Yesterday Machine' is unwatchable by anyone not an aficionado of 'time travel' movies.

This film is incredible! It has everything you could hope for in an enjoyable bad film. An amazing plot, Hitler's director of "scientific warfare" Dr. Ernst Van Hauser (played by Jack Herman, an ex-Yiddish theater player who was a drama coach at a local black college) is living underneath a farmhouse in Dallas, Texas (where the movie was made). He is doing time travel experiments and giving lectures to captured subjects about his theories of "Superspectronic Relativity and the Minus Ray" (while his drawings on the blackboard are redrawn twice during his lecture). He states that his theories are far more advanced than Einstein's. He captures a baton twiller and her sister a bad night club singer ("the girl with the orchid voice" the film lets us know) who sings a funny bad song written by the director Russ Marker (I think). The director was an associate of Texas film maker Larry Buchanan and uses some of his stable of actors like Bill Thurman. Also stars a somewhat over the hill Tim Holt as a police detective who immediately knows when a baton twiller disappears in Texas it must by Nazis and Dr. Ernst Van Hauser. Jack Herman's over the top performance as Dr. Ernst Van Hauser is beyond words (William Shatner looks tame and controlled by comparison). Some amazing bad films, with wonderful low budget charm, came out of Texas in the 1960's and this takes its place as a classic along side such bad films as Manos Hands of Fate or any of the Larry Buchanan epics of the period. Highly recommended for bad film scholars. Needs to come out on DVD!

This film has to be seen to be believed. A post-war Nazi physicist who is exploring the concept of time travel to bring back Adolph Hitler, sets up his laboratory in a farmhouse in Texas!!! What happened to hiding out in South America with the rest of the gang? To add insult to injury, he manages to kidnap a majorette(!) the day before the big game. This really ticks off the local police, led by an aging Tim Holt whose star was sinking fast. Also involved in the investigation is a reporter and a nightclub singer (??!!!). They must take on the band of evil henchmen, which consists of 2 or 3 heel clicking guys and a slave girl from somewhere in the past. And if you can believe it, it goes downhill from there.

The reason to even consider watching this horror, is for the joy of seeing Jack Herman as the unapologetic Nazi. This is a man who at one time worked in the Yiddish Theater, a proving ground for such stars as Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson. His performance can be summed up in one word......ludicrous. Flailing arms, rolling eyes, clenching fists....unbelievable!! I am not familiar with Mr. Herman but I have to believe that he did not use this type of emoting in the Yiddish Theater. This was near the end of his life and possibly he was failing in health. Whatever the reason, it is the type of performance that hasn't been witnessed since. It is for this alone that I recommend this film for the bad movie buff. You will love it!!!!