A Message from Mars

1913 ComedyFantasy 68 minutes Directed by Wallett Waller

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About A Message from Mars

Horace Parker (Charles Hawtrey), a rich miser, is engaged to Minnie Templer (Chrissie Bell), who is ready to break it off. On Christmas Eve a messenger from Mars, Ramiel (E. Holman Clark), is sent to Earth to change him. The two become invisible and hear what Parker's friends and family say about him. The lesson is the one in Dickens: the rich man has to look after people who have less.

Cast & crew

More about A Message from Mars

J. Wallett Waller directed. The film adapts Richard Ganthony's play A Message from Mars. United Kingdom Photoplays released it in July 1913. It runs 68 minutes. Frank Hector plays Arthur Dicey, Hubert Willis a tramp, and Kate Tyndale Aunt Martha. R. Crompton plays the God of Mars. The British Film Institute calls it the first British science-fiction film and in September 2014 put a longer restoration, with the original tinting and toning, online.

Themes

  • a miser at Christmas
  • a sentence from Mars
  • hearing what people say
  • Horace Parker
  • Ramiel
  • Minnie Templer
  • Christmas Eve
  • Mars
  • Hawtrey

In film history

The British Film Institute identifies it as the first British science-fiction film.

Making

Waller staged the invisibility as a stage trick carried into a feature: Parker and Ramiel stand where the other characters cannot see them and listen.

Preservation

The British Film Institute restored a longer print, with the original tinting and toning, and published it online in 2014.

Notes

  • The Martian does not invade. He is sentenced to reform one selfish man.
  • The Christmas Eve visit and the eavesdropping follow the shape of A Christmas Carol.
  • Eileen Temple plays Mrs. Clarence. Tonie Reith plays a wounded man's wife. B. Stanmore plays the wounded man.
  • The BFI's 2014 version is longer than the copies that had been in circulation and restores the tints.
  • Evelyn Beaumont plays Bella.

Scenes

  • Ramiel arrives on Christmas Eve to reform Horace Parker.
  • Invisible, they listen to Parker's friends and family.
  • Minnie is already close to ending the engagement when the visit starts.

Influenced by

  • A Message from Mars by Richard Ganthony
  • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Also available

  • British Film Institute (2014 restoration)