Four devils
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Four devils |
| Original title | 4 devils |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1928 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau |
| script |
Carl Mayer , John Hunter Booth , Marion Orth , Berthold Viertel |
| music | Samuel Lionel Rothafel |
| camera |
L. William O'Connell , Ernest Palmer |
| cut | Harold D. Schuster |
| occupation | |
| |
Vier Teufel is an American film drama from 1928. The screenplay is based on the story De Fire Djævle by the Danish writer Herman Bang .
action
An old clown picks up the four children Charles, Adolf, Marion and Louise to protect them from the brutal circus owner who is their guardian. He teases them and trains them to be acrobats.
The years go by 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 finds out about the relationship and lets herself be distracted by it. At the finale of her performance, where there is no network, she crashes. Marion survives and Charles, touched by the near-disaster, returns to his girlfriend.
criticism
Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times praised Murnau's work in keeping interest in film from the first shot to the last. Not only the actors are led with unmatched skill, the camera work is also gentle and seductive.
Awards
At the second Academy Awards in 1930 , Ernest Palmer was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Cinematography category.
background
The premiere took place on October 3, 1928 in New York. In Germany, a silent film version first appeared in 1929. The film was first shown as a sound film in 1930.
The songs Marion and Destiny were composed by Erno Rapee (melody) and Lew Pollack (text).
FW Murnau's second Hollywood work was hampered by restrictions imposed by Fox Film Corporation . Co-author Mayer left the project, the script was completed by Marion Orth and Berthold Viertel in Germany. After Murnau left Fox, the film was re-released on June 15, 1929 with new sound effects and dialogues written by John Hunter Booth.
The film is now considered lost . The original negative was destroyed in a fire and it appears that Fox did nothing to secure the intact film material. In 1948, the last 35 mm copy was given to actress Mary Duncan ; Nothing is known about the whereabouts of the copy.
Web links
- Four Devil in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Review of the New York Times (English)
- ↑ Description in the portal Silent Era (English)
- ↑ Michael Pogorzelski: The Fox Films . In: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. A melancholic of German films. Berlin 2003, page 229