A Message from Mars
Get out the scorecard.
Richard Ganthony wrote the popular play which was performed in 1899 and revived several times over the next couple of decades.
The story was "novelized" a little over a decade later by Lester Lurgan (who is really Mabel Winifred Knowle).
It was filmed three times:
The first was in New Zealand by Walter Brown a.k.a. Walter Franklyn Barrett. The date of the exact filming is unknown. It has been listed as being done as late as 1909 or 1910. Some sources even state the film is Australian. I did a little bit of amateur investigation with Australian and New Zealand archives. According to researchers using New Zealand records and based on printed recollections of Barrett, the film was done maybe as early as 1902.
In 1913, A Message from Mars was made in the United Kingdom. It starred Charles Hawtrey who also was the play's star. In fact, the movie was really nothing more than a filming of the play.
On a 1921 American version, Variety at the time reported "The adapters have destroyed the subtle psychology which the author so clearly elucidated in his original manuscript".
I tracked down Ganthony's manuscript. It is a fun read. The two central characters are Horace Parker and the "Messenger" who is sent to earth to mend Horace's selfish ways. The story is along the lines of "A Chistmas Carol" and can be forgiven for incorporating a dreamlike ending.
This dialogue can pretty much sum up much of the storyline of this fantastic comedy:
MESSENGER. ... For five days I endured the bitterest remorse when I confessed my crime, and was sentenced to make this journey.
HORACE. Doubtless you have learnt that I am interested in your world and quite rightly expected a sympathetic welcome from me?
MESSENGER. No. But of all countries yours seemed the most promising field ---.
HORACE. Bravo!
MESSENGER. Of all cities, this London, the greatest, and the most intense---.
HORACE. Good Old London!
MESSENGER. And of all its citizens yourself the most striking example ---(Horace bows)--- of the Greed and Egoism of the age.Having read and enjoyed the Ganthony play, I then turned to reading the novel. There was not much to it. The basic idea was not altered and a cookbook approach seemed to be used to incorporate additional verbiage to existing dialogue of the play. This was extremely light reading. At times I felt the novelization was aimed at a "Bobsey Twins" audience. But with little effort spent, it is hard to say that I was disappointed.
I'd like to obtain an alternate version of the novel. Emil Petaja in his "Photoplay Editions" mentions a 1913 photoplay film tie-in edition. It would be nice to see the stills bound within because although the 1913 film is still in existence out there somewhere, I have not seen it.
At least parts of the 1921 version are still around too. But it is equally difficult to trace down.
The apparent once-popularity of this work and its now total obscurity continues to keep me intrigued.
written: 11/7/2001, 11/17/2001
revised: 04/15/2004
