Chrono-Perambulator (1999)

Teddy Knox, a failed inventor, finds the key to a Stone Age riddle.

Director:

Damien O'Donnell

Writer:

Damien O'Donnell

Stars:

Charles Dance, Bill Paterson, Eamonn Hunt

Cast

Cast overview:
Charles Dance	...	James 'Dougie' Douglas
Bill Paterson	...	Professor Teddy Knox
Eamonn Hunt	...	The Farmer
Mal Whyte	...	The Reporter
Guy Carleton	...	Mr. Ashty
Jack Paterson	...	Newspaper Boy
Frankie McCafferty	...	Lazy local
Tim Hunt	...	Lord Mayor
Peter Brady	...	Lord Mayor

Storyline

Teddy Knox, a failed inventor, finds the key to a Stone Age riddle.

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Plot Keywords:

victorian era | time travel | time machine | reporter | professor | 

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Genres:

Short | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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User Reviews

Clever and funny – don't let the title put you off or mislead you

We open with stock footage of many failed attempts by Professor Teddy Knox to work his time machine before the discovery of a relic in Ireland surrounded by three Neolithic skeletons and metal artefacts – many years before metal was first used anywhere on record. Knox enlists James Douglas and his colleague to go back and meet the alien craft that he suspects first brought the artefacts to earth.

This short is very short and sweet but very professionally made. The opening montage is very funny, with Knox resorting to guns to take revenge on his experiments. The actual scientific find is interesting and is presented well as a period. The mystery is good but the humour remains – witness Knox draw a gun to kill the farmer demanding his field back only to be gently discouraged by Douglas. The twist isn't too shocking but is very neat and, because it's short, by the time you see it coming – it's happening.

Dance is well cast and is relaxed and works well as the sceptical bemused voice of reason in the piece. Paterson is excellent – he plays his role a little like a Scottish Dr Strangelove and is clearly wonderfully unhinged. I would have liked to see is character given a little more free reign for comedy though. However all told these two men make this very watchable.

Overall I wouldn't call it the best short I've ever seen but it is concise, funny and quite clever as an idea. The twist is good and well worth the 10 minutes – in a longer film I would have worked it out long before the end but here it works. The period is well set out and it does feel like the film `The Time Machine' (the original) in terms of characters, accents etc. Fun and better than I expected.

Details

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clingfilms, FilmFour

Technical Specs

Runtime:

11 min