Maria Marten or The Mystery of the Red Barn

BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films

Directed by Maurice Elvey, 1913

Film adaptation of a play about the notorious Victorian murder at Polstead in Suffolk in 1826. As the contemporary publicity put it, "A box office magnet on its title alone".

Detail of the Bioscope trade advertisement (see below).

Credits

Director Production Company	Maurice Elvey Motograph Film Company
Cast: Elizabeth Risdon (Maria Marten), Fred Groves (William Corder); Maurice Elvey (Capt Matthews), Nessie Blackford (Mary Marten) Douglas Payne (Roger Deaves) A.G. Ogden (Tom Marten)
2,900 feet, silent, black & white.

Why are we so keen to find it?

Motograph's version of the much filmed true crime story of 'Maria Marten and the Murder in the Red Barn' was one of Maurice Elvey's first films and would be worth having for this alone. But it is the subject matter that would make this a real find for us. The Red Barn murder is one of those stories that has common currency, like Robin Hood or Sweeney Todd - in its time a cause célèbre, the story first appeared in the press but had an afterlife in ballads, broadsides, penny dreadfuls and sensational melodramas and films. This film version advertises the fact that it was filmed on the actual site of the murder, adding to its gruesome appeal.

What's it about?

The murder of Maria Marten took place in the rural location of Polstead, Suffolk in 1826. Maria, the daughter of the local mole-catcher, became involved with one William Corder; fearing the disapproval of her family the couple planned to elope to Ipswich. Corder persuaded Maria to disguise herself as a boy for the journey and arranged to meet her at the barn so she could change her clothes. Maria was never seen again, although Coorder maintained the fiction that they had been married and that she was alive for some time before Maria's mother, having dreamt of her daughter, began the investigation that led to Corder's arrest, confession and execution. The film was most likely adapted from one of the lurid melodramas that were popular in the 19th century, although there is no identified link to any specific source.

Last seen?

None of the Motograph films seem to have survived. They had offices in London but used studio space in Crystal Palace but seem to have lasted for only a year or two before going out of business. Many such businesses closed in the war years.

What else do we know about it?

The publicity which appears in the trade press from the Motograph Film Company, which specialised in these sensational dramas, places Maria Marten firmly in its context: "the Film that Brings Back Memories of Village Fairs, Canvas Booths and travelling players, taken on the actual spot by our All Star British Company". In 1826 the public interest in the event was immense - the Polstead site was stripped for souvenirs and Corder's body was dissected and various aretfacts made with his skin and bones. Some of these relics survive but quite recently (2006) his skeleton was finally cremated. The fact that the 1913 version was filmed on the actual location makes the film part of this popular tradition of connecting to, or fetishising, the true crime. The plays are still occasionally performed and iconoclastic American singer-songwriter Tom Waits wrote a song version, 'Murder in the Red Barn', in the 1990s.

The publicity also mentions its all-star British cast, and contemporary reviews make much of Elizabeth Risdon, in the role of Maria. Clearly she was destined for great things and had already had some success on the British and American stage, particularly in Hall Caine's blockbuster The Christian. At the end of her British film career she married director George Loane Tucker and had a second acting career in Hollywood, appearing in Random Harvest (1942), Tall in the Saddle (1944), The Egg and I (1947), Life with Father (1947) and Scaramouche (1952) among many others.

Does anything survive?

The only surviving visual evidence for the film are the articles and trade advertisments in The Bioscope and a small press book held in the BFI's Special Collections.

Reviews

The Bioscope review praises the beautiful location shooting and the period costumes as well as the acting and adds "the play is in three reels, but absolutely devoid of anything that could be described as padding, and the way in which the tragedy gathers in strength up to the climax constitutes a model of direct and simple narration".

Bryony Dixon, Curator (Silent Film), BFI National Archive

Read about some of Montgomery Tully's surviving films, including video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline.