''The Man from M.A.R.S.'' is a 1922 silent U.S.

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

. It is notable for using the 3-D process called Teleview, similar to today's alternating frame 3-D systems. Shown in 3-D only at the

Selwyn Theater The American Airlines Theatre, originally the Selwyn Theatre, is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 227 42nd Street (Manhattan), West 42nd Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, it was previewed as ''Mars Calling'' at a trade and press screening on October 13, 1922, premiered as ''M.A.R.S.'' on December 27, 1922, and ran through January 20, 1923. A 2-D version was distributed as ''Radio-Mania'' in 1923–1924. The film was directed by Roy William Neil and photographed by

George J. Folsey George Joseph Folsey, A.S.C., was an American cinematographer who worked on 162 films between 1919 and his retirement in 1976. Biography Born in Brooklyn, Folsey was hired by Jesse Louis Lasky to work as an office boy in his newly formed Jess ...

Plot

This curious picture is a cross between fantasy and science fiction (at least, the 1922 version of science fiction) and features

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

actors Grant Mitchell and Margaret Irving in their motion picture debuts. Arthur Wyman (Mitchell) is the typical absent-minded scientist. He is in love with Mary Langdon (Irving), the daughter of his landlady (Gertrude Hillman). To help her out, he invents an alarm clock that does not tick (this being long before the days of electronic devices). Using the money he has earned writing an article, Wyman tries to put the finishing touches on a radio that will contact Mars. He falls asleep as he is tinkering with it and dreams that he has gotten in touch with the Martians. They give him a lot of valuable information—he learns a special way to make diamonds from coal, fashion gold from clay, and create steel that weighs "less than nothing." What he learns makes him fabulously wealthy—until, much to his disappointment, he wakes up. But then Mary arrives and tells him that the rights to the "tickless" alarm clock have been sold for a lot of money, so things work out after all.

Cast

Teleview

Teleview was used for showing ''The Man from M.A.R.S.'' at the Sewlyn Theatre in

and then was never seen again. It was invented by

Laurens Hammond Laurens Hammond (January 11, 1895 – July 1, 1973), was an American engineer and inventor. His inventions include the Hammond organ, the Hammond clock, and the world's first polyphonic musical synthesizer, the Novachord. Youth Laurens ...

, best known as the creator of the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

. Hammond had, in fact, earned money from the invention of a silent clock, which enabled him to establish himself as an inventor. Teleview was very complex for its time as it was a way to project and view

stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stere ...

images by the alternating frame method. Two projectors ran interlocked, with the left and right images being projected one after the other in repeated rapid succession. Each spectator had a special viewer attached to the arm rest of their chair. A revolving shutter in the viewer ran in synchronization with the projector shutters, blocking each eye's view of the images intended for the other eye, so that the users simply positioned the viewers in front of their eyes and looked through to see a stereoscopic 3-D image. Unlike earlier inventions based on the same principle, the Teleview system did not cause any unusual image flickering. The show was a success, but after several weeks at this one theater Teleview vanished without a trace.

Preservation

A print of ''Radio-Mania'' is held by the

BFI National Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...

. In 2022, a surviving 2D copy of the film was converted to 3D and released to Blu-ray by Variety Films as part of a documentary called 100 Years of 3D Movies featuring: The Man from M.A.R.S. along with related bonus material. A 2D version of this program later launched on streaming platforms.https://www.amazon.com/100-Years-Movies-Featuring-R-S/dp/B0B8KTNSGQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3RYJZ8400WPWV&keywords=100+years+of+3d+movies&qid=1670133040&s=instant-video&sprefix=100+years+of+3d+movies%2Cinstant-video%2C66&sr=1-1

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man From M.A.R.S. 1922 films American silent feature films 1920s 3D films 1920s science fiction horror films Films about extraterrestrial life American black-and-white films Lost American films Films distributed by W. W. Hodkinson Corporation Films directed by Roy William Neill 1920s American films Silent science fiction horror films