4 Devils ad in The Film Daily, Jan-Jun 1929 (page 1452 crop)

''4 Devils'' (also known as ''Four Devils'') is a 1928 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by German director

F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at th ...

and starring Janet Gaynor. It is considered to be

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

Premise

The plot concerns four orphans ( Janet Gaynor, Nancy Drexel,

Barry Norton Barry Norton (born Alfredo Carlos Birabén; June 16, 1905 – August 24, 1956) was an Argentine-American actor. He appeared in over 90 films, starting in silent films from 1925 until his death in 1956. He is perhaps best known for his role a ...

, and Charles Morton) who become a high wire act, and centers around sinister goings-on at a circus. An old clown takes in the four children Charles, Adolf, Marion and Louise to protect them from the brutal circus owner who is their guardian. He raises them and trains them to become acrobats. The years pass and the four children soon become successful trapeze artists who call themselves the "Four Devils". Charles and Marion are now a couple. But when they perform at Cirque Olympia in Paris, Charles gets involved with a beautiful stranger. Marion learns about the relationship and is distracted by it. At the finale of her performance, in which she works without a net, she crashes. Marion survives, and Charles, touched by the near-catastrophe, returns to his girlfriend.

Cast

* Janet Gaynor as Marion **

Anne Shirley Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel '' Anne of Green Gables'' by L. M. Montgomery. Shirley is featured throughout the classic book series, which revolve around her life and family in 19th and 20th-century Prince Ed ...

as Marion as a girl (billed as Dawn O'Day) *

Mary Duncan Mary Duncan (August 13, 1894 – May 9, 1993) was an American stage and film actress. She is best known for her performances in F.W. Murnau's '' City Girl'' (1930) and ''Morning Glory'' (1933). Early years Duncan was born in Luttrellville ...

as The lady *

Anders Randolf Anders Randolf (December 18, 1870 – July 2, 1930) was a Danish American actor in American films from 1913 to 1930. Biography Anders was born in Viborg, Denmark, where he became a professional soldier in the Danish army and a world-class swo ...

as Cecchi *

as Adolf **

Philippe De Lacy Philippe De Lacy (July 25, 1917 – July 29, 1995) was a French-American silent film era child actor who became a film producer, director, and cinematographer in adulthood. Early life Born during World War I, the already fatherless Philippe los ...

as Adolf as a child * Charles Morton as Charles ** Jack Parker as Charles as a child * André Cheron as Old roue * George Davis as Mean clown * Nancy Drexel as Louise ** Anita Louise as Louise as a child * Wesley Lake as Old clown *

J. Farrell MacDonald John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed fort ...

as The clown *

Claire McDowell Claire McDowell ( MacDowell; November 2, 1877 – October 23, 1966) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 350 films between 1908 and 1945. Early years Claire MacDowell was born in New York City on November 2, 1877, the ...

as Woman

Production

''4 Devils'' was released by

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...

and was produced by William Fox, who had hired Murnau to come to the United States. It was initially released as a silent with a synchronised music score and sound effects in October 1928, and grossed $100,000 in New York City, but because of the talkie picture craze, Fox pulled it from distribution and ordered sound to be added. A 25% sound version, incorporating "synchronised sound effects, music and dialogue sequences", was made without Murnau's cooperation.

Preservation status

No copies of either version of the film are known to exist, and ''4 Devils'' remains among the most sought after

lost films A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

of the silent era. Details of the movie can be found on the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

for ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

'', released by Fox as part of their 20th Century Fox Studio Classics collection. Film historian and collector

William K. Everson Keith William Everson (8 April 1929 – 14 April 1996) was an English- American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector, and film historian. He also discovered several lost films. Everson's given first names were Keith William, but he r ...

stated that the only surviving print was lost by actress

, who had borrowed it from Fox Studios. Martin Koerber, curator of

Deutsche Kinemathek Die Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen is a major German film archive located in Berlin. History The Deutsche Kinemathek opened in 1963. Until the opening of a permanent display in the Museum of Film and Television Berlin (Mu ...

, is more hopeful, writing that the print was given to Duncan, and that her heirs, if any, may yet have it.

Other adaptations

The source novella by

Herman Bang Herman Joachim Bang (20 April 1857 – 29 January 1912) was a Danish journalist and author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough. Biography Bang was born in Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son of a South Jutlandic vicar ...

was first adapted into film in 1911 by

Robert Dinesen Robert Theodor Camillo Dinesen (23 October 1874 – 8 March 1972) was a Danish film actor and film director, director. He was first married to actress Laura Johanne Winter (1882-1930) and secondly to Christine Marie Christensen (1877-1935). He is ...

and

Alfred Lind Søren Estrup Alfred Lind (27 March 1879 – 29 April 1959) was a Danish cinematographer, screenwriter, and film director of the silent era. Lind was a prominent director in early Scandinavian cinema, and also worked in the German film industry. ...

, and finally in 1985 by

Anders Refn Anders Refn (born 8 April 1944) is a Danish film editor and director. Biography Refn graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 1969. He has credits for 72 features and TV series, as well as a 10 shorts and 26 documentaries. Refn ...

. The screenplay for the 1928 film was novelized by

Guy Fowler Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorpo ...

and published that year by Grosset and Dunlap as a hardcover Photoplay (movie tie-in) Edition.

References

External links

* *
''4 Devils''
at Virtual History {{F. W. Murnau 1928 films 1928 drama films Fox Film films Silent American drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Circus films 1920s English-language films Films about orphans Films based on works by Herman Bang Films based on Danish novels Films directed by F. W. Murnau Films produced by William Fox Lost American films Transitional sound drama films Films with screenplays by Carl Mayer Films with screenplays by Berthold Viertel Remakes of American films 1928 lost films Lost drama films Early sound films 1920s American films