Richárd Falk

Set in 1959, Diner shows how five young men resist their adulthood and seek refuge in their beloved Diner. The mundane, childish, and titillating details of their lives are shared. But the golden moments pass, and the men shoulder their responsibilities, leaving the Diner behind.

In post–World War I Europe, drifter Jim Jeffries, son of a disgraced stock speculator, stumbles into high society at a London palace card party and parlayed his luck into wealth, only to lose it all in a cutthroat Chinese port and end up in prison. Upon release, he secretly marries the resourceful Jane, reinvents himself in America as Riche Richson, and, newly prosperous, reunites with Jane, now companion to a millionaire’s daughter, on a whirlwind transatlantic adventure that proves fortune can favor the bold.

Martians fear their children have become lazy and joyless due to their newfound obsession with Earth TV shows. After ancient Martian leader Chochem suggests that the children of Mars need more fun—including their own Santa Claus—supreme leader Lord Kimar assembles an expedition to Earth. Once there, they kidnap two children who lead them to the North Pole, then capture the real Santa Claus, taking all three back to Mars in an attempt to bring the Martian children happiness.

It is a variation on the original legend of Alraune in which a Mad Scientist creates a beautiful but demonic child from the forced union between a woman and a Mandrake root. Not to be confused with the 1918 German version of Alraune.

Adaptation of Elinor Glyn's romance novel When the Hour Came.