Maria Marten is a 1913 British

Cinema of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...

 silent

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 melodrama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Maurice Elvey

Maurice Elvey

Maurice Elvey was the most prolific film director in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year....

 and starring Nessie Blackford, Fred Groves

Fred Groves (actor)

-Selected filmography:* Maria Marten * The Idol of Paris * The Loss of the Birkenhead * Florence Nightingale * The Firm of Girdlestone * The Manxman * The Labour Leader...

 and Douglas Payne

Douglas Payne

-Selected filmography:* Maria Marten * The Harbour Lights * Enoch Arden * The Little Minister * The Romany Rye * Master and Man * Flying from Justice * Fine Feathers...

. It was based on the 1827 Red Barn Murder

Red Barn Murder

The Red Barn Murder was a notorious murder committed in Polstead, Suffolk, England, in 1827. A young woman, Maria Marten, was shot dead by her lover, William Corder. The two had arranged to meet at the Red Barn, a local landmark, before eloping to Ipswich. Maria was never heard from again...

. A Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

 squire murders a young pregnant woman who demands that he marries her. The story of Maria Marten was a popular stage melodrama of the Victorian era, and five films based on the story were made between 1902 and 1935. Its fill name is Maria Marten, or: The Murder in the Red Barn.

Cast

• Nessie Blackford
• Fred Groves
  Fred Groves (actor)
  -Selected filmography:* Maria Marten * The Idol of Paris * The Loss of the Birkenhead * Florence Nightingale * The Firm of Girdlestone * The Manxman * The Labour Leader...
  
  
• Douglas Payne
  Douglas Payne
  -Selected filmography:* Maria Marten * The Harbour Lights * Enoch Arden * The Little Minister * The Romany Rye * Master and Man * Flying from Justice * Fine Feathers...
  
  
• Maurice Elvey
  Maurice Elvey
  Maurice Elvey was the most prolific film director in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year....
  
  
• Mary McKenzie
• A.G. Ogden
• Elisabeth Risdon
  Elisabeth Risdon
  Elisabeth Risdon was an English film actress. She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 1952. An attractive beauty in her youth she usually played in society parts...