A Message from Mars | |
---|---|
Directed by | W.F. Brown Franklyn Barrett |
Based on | A Message from Mars by Richard Ganthony |
Produced by | Franklyn Barrett |
Starring | Peter Savieri Gus Neville |
Cinematography | Franklyn Barrett [1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 500 feet [2] |
Country | New Zealand |
Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
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. [3] [4] [5]
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.
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. " [6]
A Martian comes to Earth to show a human he is selfish.
This 1903 film was New Zealand's first fiction film and is now considered a lost film.
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The Blue Mountains Mystery is a lost 1921 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford and co-directed by Lottie Lyell.
The Hayseeds is a 1933 Australian musical comedy from Beaumont Smith. It centres on the rural family, the Hayseeds, about whom Smith had previously made six silent films, starting with Our Friends, the Hayseeds (1917). He retired from directing in 1925 but decided to revive the series in the wake of the box office success of On Our Selection (1932). It was the first starring role in a movie for stage actor Cecil Kellaway.
The Pioneers is a 1926 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford. The script had been written by Lottie Lyell but she had died by the time filming started. It was considered a lost film but some surviving footage from it has recently emerged.
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Walter Franklyn Barrett, 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 visual ingenuity was to be the highlight of all his work, but... his direction of actors was less assured".
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A Silent Witness is a 1912 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett. It is considered a lost film. It was a drama set in Sydney with Cyril Mackay as the hero.
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West's Pictures was a short-lived Australian film production and exhibition company during the silent era. It was established by English theatrical entrepreneur Thomas James West (1885–1916) who helped turn the company into one of Australia's largest exhibitors. The company also produced a regular newsreel and several narrative films, some made by Franklyn Barrett.
Riding to Win is an Australian comedy drama silent film starring Australian gangster Squizzy Taylor and his girlfriend Ida Pender. Made in 1922 it was banned by the Victorian censor but obtained release in Sydney and Brisbane under the title Bound to Win.