The First Men in the Moon (1919 film)
| The First Men in the Moon | |
|---|---|
| Directed by |
Bruce Gordon J. L. V. Leigh |
| Written by |
R. Byron Webber H.G. Wells (novel) |
| Starring |
Bruce Gordon Heather Thatcher Lionel d'Aragon |
| Distributed by | Gaumont British (UK) |
Release dates |
|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English intertitles |
The First Men in the Moon (1919) is a black-and-white silent film, directed by Bruce Gordon and J. L. V. Leigh. The film is based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The First Men in the Moon (1901). There have since been many other adaptations of the original story on the big screen, radio and video.
As of August 2010, the film is not held in the BFI National Archive and is listed as one of the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" list of lost films.[1] Some stills from the production and a plot synopsis exist.[2]
Plot
The synopsis from The Bioscope trade paper of 5 June 1919 reads as follows:
In the company of Rupert Bedford, a grasping speculator, Samson Cavor, an elderly inventor-scientist, ascends to the Moon in a sphere coated with 'Cavorite', a substance which has the property of neutralizing the law of gravity. After strange adventures with the 'Selenites' (the inhabitants of the Moon), Bedford villainously deserts the professor and returns to Earth alone in order to make a fortune for himself out of Cavorite. By means of wireless telegraphy, however, Hogben, a young engineer in love with Cavor's niece, Susan, succeeds in getting in touch with the stranded inventor, who denounces Bedford and states that he has been amicably received by the Grand Lunar, overlord of the Selenites. Susan thereupon indignantly rejects the proposals of Bedford, who has represented it as Cavor's last wish that she should marry him, and, instead, accepts Hogben as her husband.[1]
Notability
Robert Godwin credits the film as "the first movie to ever be based entirely on a famous science fiction novel."[2]
Cast
- Bruce Gordon as Hogben
- Heather Thatcher as Susan
- Hector Abbas as Sampson Cavor
- Lionel d'Aragon as Rupert Bedford
- Cecil Morton York as Grand Lunar
See also
References
- 1 2 "The First Men in the Moon / BFI Most Wanted". British Film Institute.
- 1 2 Robert Godwin, H.G. Wells The First Men in the Moon: the Story of the 1919 Film, Apogee Space Books, ISBN 978-1926837-31-4- see web page at Apogee books (retrieved 5 May 2014).
External links
- BFI 75 Most Wanted entry, with extensive notes
- The First Men in the Moon at the Internet Movie Database