The Sorrows of Satan (1926 film)
| The Sorrows of Satan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | D.W. Griffith |
| Written by | Forrest Halsey George C. Hull John Russell |
| Starring | Adolphe Menjou Ricardo Cortez Carol Dempster Lya De Putti Ivan Lebedeff |
| Cinematography | Harry A. Fischbeck |
| Edited by | Julian Johnson |
| Music by | Hugo Riesenfeld |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 111 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
The Sorrows of Satan (1926) is a silent film by D. W. Griffith based on the novel The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli. At this point in his career Griffith had given up his independent filmmaker status by joining Paramount Pictures.
A previous version of Corelli's story had been filmed in England during World War I.[1][2] Reportedly Griffith did not want to do this project, but as his first Paramount assignment he was not given a choice. Remarkably, however, the film turned out to be one of Griffith's most fully realized works and its critical stock has risen considerably in the last several decades. This was Carol Dempster's final screen role.
Plot
Adolphe Menjou stars as Prince Lucio de Rimanez, who is in fact really Satan assuming a human form. When struggling writer Geoffrey Tempest (Ricardo Cortez) is moved to curse God for his misfortunes, Prince Lucio makes a sudden appearance, informing Tempest that he has inherited a fortune. The only proviso is that Tempest must place his fate entirely in the Prince's hands. As he ascends to the uppermost rungs of European society, Tempest is ordered by Lucio to marry Russian Princess Olga (Lya De Putti), even though the writer still loves his sweetheart Mavis Claire. Eventually, Prince Lucio reveals his true identity, but not before Olga has committed suicide. After rejecting the devil and all his false promises, Tempest lives happily ever after with Mavis.
Production
This movie, like Ben-Hur, was released in a different edit in Europe. The American version of The Sorrows of Satan had Lya de Putti's character play a nightclub scene with enough attire to pass the censors. In the European version, Griffith shot the nightclub scene with de Putti bare breasted.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Adolphe Menjou | Prince Lucio de Rimanez |
| Ricardo Cortez | Geoffrey Tempest |
| Carol Dempster | Mavis Claire |
| Lya De Putti | Princess Olga |
| Ivan Lebedeff | Amiel |
References
External links
- The Sorrows of Satan at IMDb
- The Sorrows of Satan at AllMovie
- The Sorrows of Satan available for free download @ Internet Archive
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