A Trip to Mars

In the early 1900's, people felt there really was an extreme possibility of Martians living on Mars. Edison Studios took advantage of this popular thinking by producing "A Trip To Mars" in February 1910. The movie was a parody of a human traveling to the planet and confronting giant martians.

Some say this is the first science fiction movie to be made in the United States. With certainty, "A Trip To Mars" is the first sci-fi comedy produced in this country. Even though the title parallels to France's Georges Melies' 1902 classic, "A Trip To The Moon," the similarities end there. Edison's movie is noted for its use of (at the time) sophisticated special effects. Wires are implemented frequently to uplift furniture and our hero into outer space. Once on Mars, our hero walks through a forest of stationary giant martians, where a double exposure technique is used effectively. And when our human lands on a martian's humungous hand to get the frosty treatment, mirrors and depth perception are applied--similar to those seen in 1909's "The Nicotine Fairy."

Many of today's viewers are disappointed at the poor quality of the Martian movie. Edison Studios released more than a dozen movies specially made for its recently invented Home Kinetoscope, a forerunner to our parent's home 8mm projector. Edison's home viewing projector used three film strips together, each 6mm wide. Today's transferal methods onto video is taken from this Edison 6mm film, which was the smallest width ever made for commercial use. When blown up for larger video viewing, the image becomes fuzzy. Until an expensive, high tech resolution of the movie is produced, the film we watch today will have to suffice.

A Trip to Mars (1910)

*** (out of 4)

This is a fairly interesting picture from Edison about a scientist who discovers a powder that can defy gravity. At first he uses this to move a few objects in his room but then he decides to take a trip to Mars where he encounters some giant tree people and some sort of monster. I'll admit that I'm not quite certain what the monster did to the scientist but it looks like a very early version of a crack pipe. A TRIP TO MARS isn't a masterpiece like A TRIP TO THE MOON but I think fans of the bizarre should enjoy it. The best moments happen when the scientist lands on Mars and we see the giant tree-looking creatures, which were quite cleverly done and look very good. This is when the film turns really strange as this demon thing takes the scientist and smokes something. Again, I'm not sure what he was doing exactly but it was quite effective. This film was made around the same time as Edison's FRANKENSTEIN and the set here looks very similar to the one used in that film so I do wonder if they're the same.

In 1902, Georges Méliès created a landmark film, "The Trip to the Moon". While very primitive by today's standards, it was years ahead of its time and still is a joy to watch. It's the fanciful story of a trip to the moon and many studios ripped off the film-- making nearly identical (though always technically inferior) versions of the movie and passing them off as the original. Well, this isn't exactly the case with Edison's "A Trip to Mars". It's not a copy but is obviously inspired by the earlier film...but, sadly, although debuting eight years later, it's STILL not even close to the original in quality.

The film is an episodic story of a scientist who creates an anti- gravity formula. Using it, he flies to Mars...but much of this trip is strangely absent. Once there, he finds the place inhabited by giants and they torment him. Ultimately, he returns to Earth.

The film features many special effects and camera tricks--some of which worked very well and some which appear sloppy. Interesting and worth a look...but far from brilliant or groundbreaking.

Admittedly, here's not much 'science' in this 'fiction' as an inventor develops an anti-gravity power that he then spills on himself, resulting in him flying (falling?) to Mars where he encounters immense animate trees and a satanic looking giant who eventually blows him back to Earth. Although not as ingenious or as visually intriguing as Méliès' 1902 'A Trip to the Moon' (to which it is often compared), Edison's film has its clever moments: the inventor arrives upside down on the underside of Mars and the split-screen matte as he moves through the 'trees' is very effective. 'A Flight to Mars' was produced for Edison's 'Home Kinetoscope' (an early 'personal-media' device) and in the context of the history of the genre (and film in general) is an imaginative, entertaining and historically interesting short.

The obvious inspiration for this short film is Georges Melies' 1903 A TRIP TO THE MOON, but while Melies based his movie on a Jules Verne novel, this clearly is based on H.G. Wells' FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON -- with the names rubbed off and the site of the action changed to avoid lawsuits.

Even though we see the same sort of mix of stage and movie magic that Melies used, the purpose has shifted subtly from being special effects that the audience would gape at, to special effects that are used to get from plot point A to plot point B. When chairs float in the air, it is not to frighten and bewilder the audience and the movie's character, but to illustrate the invention of anti-gravity. When the scientist flails about while seeming to fly through outer space, it is to get to Mars. Special effects are no longer the point of the movie. They are part of the grammar.

To the modern eye it may look abrupt, but Edison had its own style of editing that it would use until 1913. There were few screen titles used at Edison.

Director Ashley Miller seems to have used Edison as a source of income and after they stopped production, gave up the movies. He seems to have had a real career acting and directing on Broadway.