A Message from Mars

To be allowed to return home to the Kingdom of Mars, a Martian must make good of Horace Parker, the most selfish man on Earth.

You never quite know what goodies are going to pop up on Talking Pictures; it makes me question why on Earth I'm paying for Sky Movies, which I seldom watch. A message from Mars is frustrating for most modern-day audiences, I should think, but as a piece of history, it's quite fabulous. For a silent film made so many years ago, I think it's quite remarkable.

Credit goes to the team involved in its restoration; they achieved jaw-dropping results with it, and the result is quite something. The story is easy to follow, and when you think of how limited the technology was for them, they did a grand job.

Sure, the Martians look a little unusual; it's fair to say they're not quite the little green men you may think of, but they are definitely an unusual group. It is astonishing to see the streets of London so empty and so clean! Trafalgar Square and several other locations.

6.5/10.

The original Charles Hawtrey recreated his stage success in this fanciful piece of what would today be called science fiction in which - in a fashion reminiscent of Ebenezer Scrooge - he receives a visitation to persuade him to mend his selfish ways.

In this telling the meanie answers to the name of 'Horace' - first seen carefully avoiding eye contact with the lower orders - while the Martians look on in disapproval, and decide to send a messenger to make him change his ways.

Followed by the messenger - presumably an invisible one, since none of the other Earthlings ever seem to notice him - Horace initially grudgingly complies by giving a coin to a flower seller, before going on to demonstrate that he's truly a changed character by (SPOILER COMING:) rescuing a child from a burning building.

Meanwhile back on Mars all this has been viewed with approval by the assembled Martians on a big glass globe, and the messenger is rewarded by being restored to all his former Martian finery. The End.

Called the first British science-fiction film, this is more precisely a fantasy inspired by "A Christmas Carol" with the moral guidance coming not in a dream but from Mars. It stars Charles Hawtrey, at 56 far too old for the role of a selfish young man, Horace, a part he first played on stage in 1899. Although this play has been considerably opened out, with scenes on Mars and in the streets of London (including Trafalgar Square), it still offers rare insight into the way a drama would have been staged more than a hundred years ago. Hawtrey was regarded as one of the first of the naturalistic actors and yet he still uses what would now be called stock gestures. He rubs his hands with glee about four times in succession. The supporting cast is even more melodramatic. The film is also of interest because of its relative sophistication. Although the camera is static, there are several special effects, the most notable (and contemporary) being the process used to suggest that Horace has been "zapped" by the Martian. The budget also allowed for a burning building, not common in 1913. The version under review was restored by the BFI in 2014. It's tinted and so the tech specs should reflect that, officially, the film is now in colour. (The night scenes, tinted blue, are disorienting because the shoot was clearly done in bright sunlight). The new electronic score, commissioned from Matthew Herbert, suggests other-worldliness but doesn't aid the ballroom scenes. The print, available online and on TV, is around 60 not 69 minutes. It's not clear whether the reviewer who posted here in 2002 somehow saw a longer version; but for the record this is how the new version differs from his. We don't know that Horace is an astronomer, he doesn't read a magazine article about intelligent life on Mars, and he doesn't go to sleep in his study. He is only shown in his living room and the opening scenes and inter-titles imply that what follows is not a dream. The Martian does not wear "tight-fitting black clothes" and he is shown arriving outside Horace's house. There is no indication that the tramp is "an inventor who was cheated out of the fruits of his labour". He too merely turns up at Horace's house seeking work. There are no scenes in which Horace is allowed to eavesdrop on his friends' conversations nor those in which Horace's fortune is lost. The film is also valuable in that it shows that it was once common to tip policemen. Postscript 2018: The other review I refer to above is by the notorious F Gwynplaine Macintyre. By the time I reviewed "A Message from Mars" he had been dead for 5 years. Many will know that, after his death, it was revealed that he made a habit of pretending to have seen very old films, many of them presumed lost. I think we can safely say that he did not see a longer version of this film.

Ramiel (E. Holman Clark), a Martian law-breaker, is sentenced to travel to Earth where he is to "redeem the most selfish of mortals" (Horace Parker, played by Sir Charles Hawtrey). He does so by forcing Parker to experience life as a tramp, during which the wealthy but thoughtless man realizes the value of friendship and kindness. While often cited as Britain's first full-length science-fiction film, 'The Message from Mars' is only nominally science fiction. The 'Martians' could have just as easily been a group of angels (they refer to Earthlings as 'mortals' and "Ramiel" is the name of an archangel in the apocryphal Book of Enoch) and there is no Martian 'technology' contributing to the story (Ramiel simply appears and disappears at will). The film is very slow moving and stagy (not surprising considering its provenance). The acting is typical of the era: lots of exaggerated gestures and posturing (po-faced Ramiel spends most of his time on Earth crossing his arms and frowning in disapproval). The film does mix indoor and outdoor filming and the recently released BFI edition includes the original colour tinting. There are a number of routine substitution splices but the only really interesting 'special effect' is the 'shaking' that Ramiel gives an initially belligerent Parker. The film is often compared to "A Christmas Carol" but unlike Dickens' complex story, Parker needs only to briefly experience life as indigent person to find enlightenment. Hawtrey, who had played Parker in the 1899 stage play is too old for the role of the suitor who thoughtlessly jilts his girlfriend Minnie (he is 55 years old to ingénue Crissie Bell's 23 years). The restored BBC version was scored by Matthew Herbert, and the minimalist machine-music is often out of place and dull. At about 60 minutes in length, 'The Message from Mars' is watchable but will likely only be on any real interest to film historians or to fans of the genre.

Ramiel, a native of Mars, is banished to Earth for some unspecified violation of the laws of his society. He is informed that he will only be permitted to return to his native planet when he has fulfilled his mission, which is to redeem the most selfish man on Earth. This turns out to be Horace Parker, a wealthy middle-aged Londoner. Horace is not a miser, as some have called him, if by "miser" is meant a man who would rather hoard his money than spend it. His luxurious home and elegant clothing show that he is quite happy to spend on himself. He refuses, however, to spend money on anyone else and treats the poor with contempt. His selfishness has led his beautiful young fiancée Minnie to call off their engagement, but he seems unconcerned.

Some descriptions of the film call Horace a young man, although this is inaccurate as he is played by Charles Hawtrey, who was 55 at the time. This is not, of course, the actor of the same name who found fame in the "Carry On" comedies. The younger man, whose real name was George Hartree, changed it to "Charles Hawtrey" in the hope that people would think he was the son of the original Charles Hawtree, who was a well-known figure on the British stage during the early twentieth century; in reality the two were not related.

"A Message from Mars" has been called the first British science fiction film, but it is not really science fiction in the sense that we would understand the term. It is really a traditional religious morality tale, semi-secularised by making Horace's saviour a visitor from another planet rather than, say, an angel. Even so his name, Ramiel, is that of an angel mentioned in the Apocrypha. As others have pointed out, the plot is similar to that of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".

Like virtually all films from the 1910s, this one was shot in monochrome, but in this case that word does not necessarily equate to "black-and-white" because different scenes were tinted in different colours, as was sometimes done during the silent era. (Alfred Hitchcock was to use this device in some of his early films such as "Downhill" and "The Lodger"). Here the Martian scenes are tinted in a neutral brown, whereas on Earth exterior scenes are a chilly blue, stressing the cold and bleakness of the streets (the action takes place in winter) and the interior ones a warm orange-brown, stressing the warmth and comfort of Horace's home. A house fire plays an important part in the action, and the relevant scenes are tinted a vivid red.

One strange feature of the modern restored version is that a soundtrack has been added- there is no dialogue, but there is a musical score and sound effects, some of which seem inappropriate, especially the sound of traffic whistling by which we hear every time the action moves outside onto a London street. Someone appears to have forgotten that there was little motorised traffic in 1913, and what vehicles there were moved much more slowly than modern ones, so they certainly would not have made the sound we hear. Mars must be a very windy place- all the Martian scenes take place indoors, but we can always hear the wind howling outside.

Trying to evaluate a film like "A Message from Mars" is a difficult task because it is so different from modern films. Indeed, it is in many ways different from later silent films such as "Downhill", "The Lodger" or Anthony Asquith's "A Cottage on Dartmoor", all of which date from the late twenties. By this later period techniques such as the close-up had been developed, which allowed actors to display emotion by using facial expressions. In 1913 cinematic technique was in its infancy, and there are no close-ups in "A Message from Mars". All scenes are filmed from a distance, and the only way the actors have to show emotion is a series of hand and arm gestures, which is not particularly effective. It is perhaps not surprising that the scene in which Minnie ends her engagement is so uninvolving. Films like this are of great historic importance, but it is difficult for the modern viewer to appreciate them. 6/10.