Illustration by Jillian Tamaki.
When the film Somewhere in Time premiered in 1980, it didn’t stand a chance at the box office. Based on Richard Matheson’s novel Bid Time Return, it tells the story of a successful but depressed Chicago playwright (Christopher Reeve, fresh from Superman) who travels back in time to 1912 in pursuit of the woman of his dreams (Jane Seymour, in her first major film role). In an era that favoured gritty realism (Raging Bull) and special effects films (Alien), a mushy, low-budget, period romance just wasn’t destined to be a hit. Even the likeable leads couldn’t help out; an actors strike prevented Reeve and Seymour from doing any publicity. The critics were less than kind: Roger Ebert wrote, “the whole movie is so solemn, so worshipful toward its theme, that it’s finally just silly.” It did become a major hit when it was released in Hong Kong in 1984 — running for 18 months straight at one theatre. But in North America, the film faded into obscurity, save for a small group of fans.
But what ardent fans those were. Among them was a Los Angeles cable service programmer who licensed Somewhere in Time from Universal, and broadcast it to hundreds of thousands of viewers throughout the 1980s. The film’s cult following continued to snowball when it was released on home video. In 1990, INSITE — the International Network of Somewhere in Time Enthusiasts — was formed. The group’s annual conventions are held on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, at the Grand Hotel, where the film was shot; they attract upwards of 800 attendees who dress in period costumes, re-enact scenes and trade memorabilia.
Valentine’s Day, the high holiday for hopeless romantics, seems like the perfect time to take a look at what fans say is “the most romantic love story ever filmed.” CBC Arts Online spoke with INSITE president Jo Addie, who was an extra on the film. She now runs a thriving business in Somewhere in Time collectibles and, with her husband, has shot six full-length documentaries about the movie and its fan following. Addie estimates she’s seen Somewhere in Time about 40 times, which isn’t even close to one INSITE member who is working on 5,000 viewings (he’s currently over 4,000).
A: I think it’s the same for me as it is for any fan. The film is about the ideal of love and the timelessness of love. It gives people hope that they can find the one. If you haven’t found that person yet, it gives you hope that they are out there. If you have found the one, it makes you appreciate how special that love is. And if you’ve lost the one you love, it gives you hope that you will find them again.
So many films today are about lust, or revenge, or violence. This film has a different set of values. It’s about commitment. It’s about a love that is so great that it can transcend time itself.
Q: What kind of events do you do as a group?
INSITE president Jo Addie, at a costume promenade during her group's annual convention. Photo Rolaine Coleman. Courtesy Jim Addie.
A: There’s our annual weekend at the Grand Hotel, which has been happening every October since 1991. There’s a movie location walking tour, a celebrity panel, lectures on Edwardian lifestyle and etiquette, a costume promenade and we show the film on a big screen — which is the first time a lot of people have seen it on anything other than a TV set.
We funded Chris Reeves’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and, with Dr. Quinn fans, helped to fund Jane Seymour’s star, too. In 2000, Universal released a 20th-anniversary collector’s edition DVD with three-and-a-half hours of bonus material, including a segment on INSITE. I’m especially proud of that. We’ve also raised thousands of dollars for spinal cord research in honour of Chris.
A: It’s a couple of things. It’s set in a real place that fans can actually visit. It wasn’t shot on a set, but on the hotel’s grounds, so people can visit all the places that are in the film. They can live the movie. And Mackinac Island doesn’t have any cars on it. You have to travel by horse and wagon, so it feels like you’ve left the present behind. On our annual weekend, when people dress up in period costume, I always say that it’s the closest thing to time travel you can get in real life.
I can characterize the fans. They are all ages, all races, both sexes and come from around the world. But for all that diversity, the typical fan has four things in common: they believe in true love, they have old-fashioned values, they appreciate beauty, and they feel displaced and alienated by our violent and chaotic time. The film gives them a taste of a beautiful, graceful era when men were gentlemen and women were ladies. It’s an escape from the day-to-day.
A: Yes. Fifty per cent of our members are men and my foreign e-mail is more than 90 per cent male. I think that men are drawn to the film because it’s told from a man’s point of view. It was a man — Bill Shephard — who founded INSITE. He was a huge film buff. When he saw the film, it completely overwhelmed him. He couldn’t even speak afterwards. His date turned to him and said, “Well, that didn’t do anything for me,” and he knew that relationship wasn’t going to work out. [Laughs] A lot of people say they use the film as a barometer for a new love interest, or even with new friends. If someone doesn’t like the film, it just isn’t meant to be.
Rachel Giese writes about the arts for CBC.ca.
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