The Incredible Machine is a 1975 American documentary film directed by Irwin Rosten and Ed Spiegel.
[1] E. G. Marshall narrated the film, which was produced by Rosten, together with Dennis B. Kane and Alex Pomasanoff.
[3] Rosten's collaborator Nicholas Noxon described the "extraordinary impact" that the film had as a National Geographic special, noting that it was "groundbreaking for its time" and "opened people's eyes to what could be done with a documentary".
[4] The New York Times reviewer John J. O'Connor cited the film's ability to allow PBS to compete with the major networks, saying that "commercial television should now be reeling from the success of [the] National Geographic documentary", which garnered 36% of the total television audience in the New York City area when it was shown on WNET Channel 13.
[6] The New York Times noted criticism that viewers had been led to believe that the film was composed entirely of shots taken inside the human body, while nearly 5% was actually taken inside animals for details of the lungs, blood circulation and the reproductive system.