Actually, I think that The Man Who Could Work Miracles is the best overall Wells adaptation of all , and for years I attributed this in part to his NOT having anything to do with it. I knew that someone else wrote the screenplay, but this is the first I heard that he added some dialogue. I still think it’s the best because his input wasn’t large,.
Wells DID write the screenplay for Things to Come, and it’s rather dismal. The movie is visually striking and imaginative, but wells’ hand is pretty heavy in allegory (“Everytown” my foot – why not just come out and call it London? It’s got St. Paul’s right there in the background.) Too many characters “stand for” something, but aren’t really people.
He wrote another screenplay – The King Who Was A King – but it was never produced. It’s apparently on the internet, and I should read it. But from all accounts it’s as allegorically heavy as Things to Come
Ironically, wells was right at the forefront of things. He was trying to team up with some inventors who wanted to turn The Time Machine into a sort of early Virtual Reality ride – a box with a movie screen in the front that depicted scenes from different historical eras. If they had done it, they probably would’ve scooped Hale’s Tours, which is credited with starting lots of movie careers.