''A Message from Mars'' is a 1903 New Zealand short film by

Franklyn Barrett Walter Franklyn Barrett (1873 – 16 July 1964), better known as Franklyn Barrett, was an Australian film director and cinematographer. He worked for a number of years for West's Pictures. It was later written of the filmmaker that "Barrett's vi ...

, based on the play of the same name by

Richard Ganthony Richard Ganthony (1856–1924) was an actor and playwright. He is best known as the author of the drama '' A Message from Mars'', which premiered in 1899. Biography Born in Liverpool, England, in 1856, Richard Ganthony spent most of his career in ...

that had been highly popular in Australia and New Zealand. Another version of this film was made in 1913 in the UK as ''

A Message from Mars (1913 film) ''A Message from Mars'' is a 1913 British science fiction silent film directed by J.Wallett Waller. According to the British Film Institute, it is the first British science-fiction film. The film was written by Waller and Richard Ganthony, ba ...

''. In December 2014, the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

announced this latter film was posted online on their website. According to ''The Bulletin'', "Only six people were employed in its making, but it was notable as the first picture in which trick photography was resorted to for dramatic effect. It was quite devoid of such modern improvements as “fade-ins,” “fade-outs” and “close-ups,” but it made money. "

Plot

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

Cast

*''Peter Savieri'' *''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 A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

References

External links

*
''A Message From Mars'' at Silent Era
1900s New Zealand films 1903 films 1903 in New Zealand 1900s science fiction films Lost New Zealand films New Zealand films based on plays 1903 short films New Zealand silent short films 1900s lost films Films directed by Franklyn Barrett Lost science fiction films Lost silent films {{NewZealand-film-stub