This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of my favorite authors, Edgar Rice Burroughs. He is, of course, the writer behind the Tarzan series, which made him famous– and wealthy. It wasn’t just the success of the novels themselves that propelled him to such fame. Burroughs was able to turn the character of Tarzan into a multi-media sensation, capitalizing on the character’s popularity. From comics to movies, Tarzan was everywhere. Although the early MGM Tarzan films with Johnny Weissmuller are some of my favorite adventure films from the 1930s, there are no immediate plans to bring these to the Pickwick Theatre next season. But the ERB anniversary gives me an opportunity to mention another creation of his– one that I wish had been made into a movie a century ago.
I had a science/oceanography teacher at Columbia College Chicago who, at the start of one class, was talking about a book called A Princess of Mars. He raved about it and told the class, “If you get a chance, read it.” Well, eventually I did, and it was probably the best thing I got out of that course. Ever since, the book has remained one of my favorites in the fantasy genre. It might actually be my absolute favorite. It’s the tale of a Confederate soldier who finds himself transported to the planet Mars. With the aid of an exotic heroine, Dejah Thoris, he is tasked with rescuing their civilization. The story had originally been serialized in 1912 and then published as a novel in 1917. This planetary romance is part of Burroughs’ “Barsoom” series featuring the character of John Carter.
Aside from a lackluster Disney adaptation in 2012 that bombed at the box office– John Carter— there’s never been a serious effort to bring these books to the screen. The stories were an inspiration to so many science fiction writers who followed, including Frank Herbert with his Dune novels. It’s a shame a film version wasn’t made a century before as it would have captured the tenor of the times in which the novels flourished. However, whereas Tarzan could more easily be brought to the screen in terms of budget– a jungle setting could be more easily created on the studio backlot–the fantasy stories would’ve been problematic as they required the visualization of a whole new world. At that time, such material would have been left to the movie serials of the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s. Yet, not even studios like Republic or Universal tackled the scope of what Edgar Rice Burroughs had imagined. (Universal did, however, bring Flash Gordon to the screen in 1936.) But there was one Hollywood player who could’ve done it.
We don’t know how familiar he was with the books, but I believe actor/producer Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. would’ve been the perfect choice to star in and direct such a large-scale production. He was the action hero of the 1920s, and he had already proven he could make brilliant fantasy films like The Thief of Bagdad (1924). A Princess of Mars is filled with action and swordplay, which would’ve been right up Doug’s alley. Although I’m certain he would’ve changed the title to something better suited for himself: “John Carter of Mars,” logically. Additionally, how wonderful would it have been to have stop-motion animation pioneer Willis O’Brien doing the special effects for an epic fantasy like that? It could’ve been the Star Wars of its day– even predating Flash Gordon. I can only speculate on what all that might’ve looked like, although some fan in the future probably could try to replicate that design concept.
Douglas Fairbanks, seen here in The Thief of Bagdad, would have been an excellent choice to play John Carter in a 1920s version of A Princess of Mars.
I’ve seen these AI-generated trailers showing, for example, what The Phantom Menace might’ve looked like had it been made in the 1950s. (It looked better than what audiences got in 1999!) But this is an ill-advised use of AI. In fact, I feel the technology is becoming a cancer in the arts. I dislike it because it’s blurring the lines of what is and what isn’t genuine. Of course, these days, that fits with everything else going on in the country. But there are AI-generated images of movie stars in photos on social media that are clearly not real, but people are being fooled by them. AI can even re-create the voices of actors long deceased, which is a morbid practice despite whatever intent. Its use has no place in regards to designing motion pictures. Unlike CG effects, AI makes the artistic decisions– or calculations– removing the human element. This is a soulless way to make a film or any film-related subject. Technologically, we’re at a point now where you could type in the storyline for “A Princess of Mars,” “Douglas Fairbanks,” “1920s,” and special effects by “Willis O’Brien,” and stir all those elements together in the computer and get an AI-generated potpourri of what such a film might’ve looked like. It’s a digital tool that is becoming a modern-day Frankenstein. Art needs to be produced by humans. And the past– long gone actors, their voices and images– needs to stay in the past.
Movies can certainly be made in the style of an earlier period. Of course, there is no one quite like a Douglas Fairbanks these days, but hopefully one day another attempt will be made– with the right actors, the right tone, and so forth– to bring this fine novel to the big screen. But it would’ve been really cool had it been made in 1925,
~MCH
A Frank Frazetta painting for A Princess of Mars (1970).