A Trip to Mars

Years before the movie serial Flash Gordon came upon the scene, the first science-fiction space opera was Denmark's February 1918 "A Trip To Mars." Produced during the middle of World War One, the movie paints a utopian vision of peace & love on the planet Mars from its inhabitants. The line "Love is the Force you call God" is repeated several times, illustrating how screenwriter Ole Olsen felt Earthlings needed to be reminded of that lesson while the European carnage was happening next door to Denmark.

It has been noted "A Trip To Mars" is the first science fiction feature-length movie ever produced. There have been earlier alien-encounter films on Mars and the Moon released, but they were "shorts." The Mars journey the Danes created here was made at a time when lines thought to be canals existing on the planet could be seen from our best telescopes, hinting there was a sophisticated alien life there. When the movie's Earthlings land on the very hospitable planet, its residents welcome their visitors with open arms--that is until a gun is produce by one of the "barbaric" guests to shoot down a bird, setting off a contrast between the two civilizations.

Once things are set right, the viewer appreciates the love and kindness of the Martians, one of the very few times the Red Planet is shown to have benevolent aliens (See list of top Mars movies ranked in below links). Just as the real life Pocahontas was brought to England to showcase the Native Americans, Mars' knockout female Corona was transported to Earth to convey a heavenly message of peace, love and understanding.

A portion of "A Trip To Mars" is devoted to the technology of transporting men to another planet. Many inventions and scientific research have gone towards present-day's outer space achievements, but the fact the film devotes its time towards space travel qualifies it as a "space opera," a phrase coined in 1941. Like soap operas, space operas have dramatic impact on not only the method of travel, but the dramatics of human encounters with alien life. In "A Trip To Mars," the movie's aim is to impact its audience with a message that was hoped to change the direction of Western civilization, just as Thomas More had intended in his book "Utopia" and James Hilton in his "Shangri-La." With "The War To End All Wars" becoming just one in a string of long bloody conflicts following it, the Martian example hasn't quite sunk in yet.

I know I've seen a fair portion of this film as part of a series on rare silent movies, which was shown on TV around 25 years ago. It was beautiful and fascinating, and I yearned to see more of it, although most published literature states that it is 'lost'.

As it is extremely unlikely that the film will ever see the light of day in its complete form, a spoiler warning is irrelevant, and the following is gleaned from published synopses more than from my personal recollection.

It is an early space opera, concerning a team of explorers who visit the planet Mars, and encounter a race of peace-loving vegetarians (is there any other kind? Oh, sit down, Adolph!). They return to Earth with the high priest's lovely daughter, and the plea for peace is threatened only by one villain who is dealt with by what can only be described as an Act of God.

Apart from George Melies' crazy moon explorer fantasies, this seems to be the first interplanetary adventure film in history, and from a country (Denmark) not noted for science-fiction films of any kind. Maybe they thought that they'd never do one better than this.

We might giggle at the idea that the spaceship had propellers on its wings, but come on...we are still accepting lots of logistically improbable and impossible concepts in films of today. I hope this film does still exist somewhere. The fragments I've seen, and the material I've read, makes me yearn to experience the whole of this 90-year-old space opera.

The early first days of the last century were times of great human curiosity about new technologies and the marvellous possibilities in the world of science; startling discoveries and new inventions set the world on the path to modernity. Unfortunately, this time of enlightenment also coincided with terrible conflicts and war, mankind at its worst.

That human duality is very well reflected in the Danish film "Himmelskibet" (1918), directed by the great director Herr Holger-Madsen. It is a sci-fi film that includes a clear and sincere pacifist claim.

The film tells of the eagerness and hardships of the sea captain Herr Avanti Planetaros, now reconverted into a space captain, and his project of a trip to Mars. Before embarking on his particular space odyssey, Captain Planetaros will have to bear the incredulity and the scorn of many conservative astronomers, especially Professor Dubius ( ah, what a proper name… ) . In spite of such indifference and after many troubles and years of work, the spaceship "Excelsior" is finally constructed and Captain Planetaro's trip to Mars goes from dream to reality. Once on Mars, Captain Planetaros and his crew finds an advanced society in which peace is a way of life among its citizens.

Filmed during the terrible years of WWI, "Himmelskibet" was obviously influenced by that devastating conflict that destroyed Europe during four miserable years. The message of peace and morality comes from the archaic but advanced Martian society which hopes to influence the Terrestrial civilization and wean it from such bad habits as violence, wine and canned meat.

So, Martians will show Terrestrials the way to achieve a better society on Earth with pacifist messages reminiscent of those of religion and pious morality, and in stark contrast to the bad behaviour on earth which has wrought so much unhappiness through the centuries. The Martians hope their philosophy will be spread on Earth once Planetaros and his crew returns home.

In these modern times in which the movies are full of technological magic, the special effects in "Himmelskibet" are primitive by comparison but are still full of naive charm. In fairness, longhaired and modernen youngsters should remember that Herr Holger-Madsen was also a very modernen youngster in those olden times, a director who was innovative, imaginative and influential.

It must be said too that this Herr Graf thought that instead of journeying through space to Mars, Captain Planetaros may have travelled back in time to ancient Greece since the Martian citizens wear white and classical robes so reminiscent of the Hellene imaginarium ( Martians may look like Greeks but in comparison they are crashing bores… ). However, in spite of its naive ways, the film effectively conveys its important message and one that is no less valid today where mankind still dreams of a world of peace and cooperation. Alas, even after Captain Planetaros' trip to Mars, the world seems not to have grown in wisdom.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must make love to one of his Teutonic heiress and war with the other one.

I saw "Heaven-Ship" ("Himmelskibet") at the 2006 Cinema Muto festival in Sacile, Italy. What a great movie! This Danish steampunk saga is the stirring tale of the first trip to Mars, in an era when wireless telegraphy hasn't been perfected. The spaceship hasn't got a radio, and the heroes are brought back from the landing field via horsecart. Even the intertitles are delightful ... some of them written in rhymed couplets in the original Danish.

The actors' performances are laughable, largely hand-to-brow histrionics. But the sets are astonishing, easily surpassing anything done by Georges Melies a decade earlier (or in "Die Frau im Mond" a decade later). Of course, the plot is simplistic. The spaceship's crew consist of seven thin guys and one fat slob. Guess which one cracks. Interestingly, everyone in this movie (except the dubious Professor Dubius) ardently believes in God. Even the Martians.

Impressively, the scenarists have the sense to acknowledge that a trip to Mars is no doddle: the title cards establish that it takes the scientists two years to build their spaceship (which has an airscrew) and six months to reach Mars. During the construction sequence, there's one extremely impressive set-up which must have been choreographed: dozens of workers all hustle through the worksite in different directions, with no hesitations and no collisions. The Danish scientists christen their ship "Excelsior" ("packing materials"?) and set course for Mars, even though the Moon and Venus are closer. When the ship (which flies horizontally, not vertically) lands on Mars, it is greeted by "Marsboerne" -- Martians -- who turn out to be Nordic blondes, all highly-developed pacifists and vegetarians. (As a highly-developed meat-eater, I resented that part.)

Conveniently enough, Mars turns out to have an atmosphere just like Earth's, as well as equal gravity. In an exterior shot of the Martian landscape, the Sun's apparent magnitude when seen from Mars is the same as it is when viewed from Earth. I also couldn't help observing that all the wise elder Martians are male. In fact, female elders are thin on the ground here: both the Earth-born hero and the Martian maiden are motherless. The Martians speak a universal language, wear ankhs on their robes, and greet the Earth visitors with a globe of Earth ... which of course they hold with its North Pole upward.

That Martian maiden is Marya, played by an ethereally beautiful Danish actress. (Waiter, I'll have some of that Danish!) We see a Martian dance of chastity which might have been twee or ludicrous but is actually quite touching and beautiful. Also, the Martian funeral scene features one shot which reminded me of a sequence in "The Seventh Seal". I wonder if Ingmar Bergman saw this film.

"Himmelskibet" has a few flaws, but its production design and its other merits very far outweigh its drawbacks. The Ole Olsen who is named in the credits (and who appears in a brief prologue) is no relation to Chic Johnson's vaudeville partner from "Hellzapoppin". I would give "Himmelskibet" a 12, but the scale tops off at 10 ... so, a full 10 out of 10 for this delightful trip to Mars, the blonde planet!

I saw this film from 1918 recently at our local Helsinkian film archive. It seems that the Danish Film Institute has reconstructed it in 2006 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Nordisk filmcompany, which was one of the largest in the world in the early 20th century. I believe there are several copies with English translations circulating around Europe at the moment.

I found the film fascinating and the trip to Mars well thought out. The plot line is certainly original, but I really don't want to reveal any more of it at the moment, as now the danger of spoiling things for you really exists ;-).

The film is also available on DVD, query the Danish Film Institute (Det Danske Filminstitut) web pages at dfi.dk with 'Himmelskibet' to get more info.