jo%SCRC-VIXEN@MIT-MC.ARPA (03/01/84)
From: Jonathan Ostrowsky <jo%SCRC-VIXEN@MIT-MC.ARPA> In V9 #38, Andy Leslie reprinted a list of sf that was originally published in Playboy and later anthologized (by Playboy Press, I assume). The stories included the following: Double Take Jack Finney ! see P.S. P.S. Double Take is the short story that begat a GREAT book! ( and a POOR film) Time after Time Shmaltzy but fun. If memory serves me correctly, the Finney book in question is "Time and Again", a fine time-travel novel that features a wonderfully detailed recreation of another time and place (New York City in the late 19th century). "Time After Time", a Nicholas Meyer film, is in no way related to the Finney book. The movie takes place primarily in modern-day San Francisco; the plot concerns Jack the Ripper's escape from Victorian London via H.G. Wells's time machine, and Wells's pursuit of him. I disagree with Andy on this film: although the plot is highly implausible, the photography and acting (Malcolm McDowell, the wonderful Mary Steenburgen, and David Warner) are first-rate, and Meyer creates a high level of suspense. All in all, one of my favorite fairy tales.