A Message from Mars (1903 film)

A Message from Mars is a 1903 New Zealand short film by Franklyn Barrett, based on the play of the same name by Richard Ganthony that had been highly popular in Australia and New Zealand.[2][3][4]

A Message from Mars
Directed byW.F. Brown
Franklyn Barrett
Based onA Message from Mars by Richard Ganthony
Produced byFranklyn Barrett
StarringPeter Savieri
Gus Neville
CinematographyFranklyn Barrett[1]
Release date
  • 1903 (1903)
Running time
800 feet
CountryNew Zealand
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

Another version of this film was made in 1913 in the UK as A Message from Mars (1913 film). In December 2014, the British Film Institute announced this latter film was posted online on their website.

Plot

A Martian comes to Earth to show a human he is selfish.

Cast

  • Peter Savieri[3][5]
  • Mrs Savieri
  • Gus Neville
  • Miss Foley

Preservation status

This 1903 film was New Zealand's first fiction film and is now considered a lost film.

References

  1. Rutledge, 'Barrett, Walter Franklyn (1873โ€“1964)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University accessed 11 September 2013.
  2. "A Message From Mars." Southland Times , Issue 18051, 22 January 1903, Page 2 accessed 11 September 2013
  3. "Film History: Where Wellington Stands". Dominion. No. 116. Papers Past. 10 February 1927. p. 15. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  4. "A Message from Mars". Silent Era Company. 1903. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  5. "Production of Moving Pictures โ€“ In America and Australia". Australian Town and Country Journal. Vol. XCVIII, no. 2555. New South Wales, Australia. 18 December 1918. p. 20. Retrieved 21 November 2023 โ€“ via National Library of Australia.


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