The silent film era had quite a few movies about Martians. It’s fun to look at how filmmakers of the early 20th century envisioned them. I’ve uploaded the 1913 film A Message from Mars to YouTube, with my improvised accompaniment.
The film, based on a stage play, concerns a man whom the Martians have dubbed “the most selfish of mortals.” He’s a middle-aged man named Horace who likes being left alone and is stingy with his money. One of the Martians, as penance for an unspecified crime, is sent to Earth to reform Horace. His technique consists of bullying him into having a sudden, inexplicable change of character. A 1903 short film with the same title may have been the earliest movie to feature Martians; it’s currently assumed lost.
A Message from Mars has been called the first British science fiction film, but it’s really fantasy. The Martian’s powers include teleportation, showing distant scenes without equipment, changing people’s attire, and whacking people with a force field. There’s no explanation. He could just as well have been an angel. The story has been compared to A Christmas Carol. In Dickens’ story, though, the spirits improve Scrooge by showing him things about himself. Here, being nastier to Horace than he is to others is the main technique. A lot of people today think that’s the key to persuasion, so maybe it’s a film for our times.
Still, the movie is fun in its way. The interactions between Horace and the Martian are the key ingredient. He persistently undercuts the Martian’s demands while complying with their letter. The thing that finally makes a difference isn’t anything the alien does but a human friend Horace gains. The Martian takes all the credit, of course.
The direction has a couple of problems. A man gets hit by a car, probably breaking some bones, and the people nearby pick him up by the shoulders and legs, with no support in between. Ouch. Later on a house is on fire, and the reformed Horace rescues two children while everyone outside stands near the burning house. Get away from there, you fools!
While trying accompaniment styles for the movie, I recognized it’s necessary to take its intent seriously, even when the execution is rather silly. The music shows the Martian pomp, sympathizes with the people who get hurt, and celebrates Horace’s changed outlook. As usual, the music is improvised and recorded in one continuous take from my Roland keyboard. I hope you enjoy the result.