4 Devils (lost F. W. Murnau drama film; 1928): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:15, 14 March 2016

Title page of F.W. Murnau's 4 Devils Danish film programme.

Status: Lost

4 Devils was one of renowned director F.W. Murnau's final films, detailing the lives of four trapeze performers who were orphaned as children. The film was released in both silent and sound versions under close supervision by production company Fox Films, which limited Murnau's artistic freedom. It was a failure at the box office, but was met with many glowing reviews.

Neither the sound nor the silent version of 4 Devils is found. Some speculate that one of the film's actresses, Mary Duncan, borrowed the only surviving copy and never returned it to 20th Century Fox. She reportedly misplaced it, though some suspect that her heirs may have found it.

A slideshow of 4 Devils was included as a special feature on Sunrise's out-of-print DVD release in 2003. It featured the script played out in its entirety, with rare production photos and vocal narration to accompany it. This special feature has been uploaded on YouTube, which can be found in the source list below.

Gallery

These are some of the rare photographs taken during and around the time of production.

Sources

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-[[File:220px-4devils.jpg|thumb|215px|Actress Janet Gaynor and actor Charles Morton (who played two of the main characters).]]
+{{InfoboxLost
-F. W. Murnau is one of the most beloved directors of the silent era, sometimes touted as one of the all-time greats. His 2 most well-known works, ''Nosferatu ''(1922) and ''Sunrise'' (1927) both very narrowly avoided becoming lost films themselves. ''Nosferatu'' was ordered by the estates of Brahms Stoker (author of ''Dracula'') to have all copies destroyed due to claims of copyright infringement. The film only exists thanks to film collectors who held onto their copies, making it the first film to ever be saved by piracy. ''Sunrise'''s master print was destroyed in a studio fire in 1937 and now only survives in a grainy copy that has been quite a chore to keep preserved.
+|title=<center>4 Devils (1928)</center>
+|image=4devils filmprogrammetitle.png
+|imagecaption=Title page of F.W. Murnau's 4 Devils Danish film programme.
+|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
+}}
-Murnau's final film, '''''4 Devils''''', has not been so fortunate. The film was his first that was done under the eyes of the studio, stealing away the artistic freedom that made ''Sunrise'' so great. The film's plot involves 4 trapeze performers who were orphaned as children. The film was released as a silent film, and then later a sound version was released. Sadly, it was one of Murnau's final films before his untimely death in 1931 at age 43. It was a massive failure at the box office, one of the worst for a major feature film at the time. Amazingly, despite how drastically different the film was from Murnau's other works, it was still met with glowing reviews.
+''4 Devils'' was one of renowned director F.W. Murnau's final films, detailing the lives of four trapeze performers who were orphaned as children. The film was released in both silent and sound versions under close supervision by production company Fox Films, which limited Murnau's artistic freedom. It was a failure at the box office, but was met with many glowing reviews.
-Neither the sound nor the silent version of ''4 Devils'' has survived. It is speculated that actress Mary Duncan borrowed the final surviving copy and failed to return it to 20th Century Fox. She reportedly misplaced it, though her heirs may have found it. On ''Sunrise'''s 2003 DVD issue, a slide show of the film was included as a special feature. It featured the script played out in its entirety, with rare production photos and voice narration to accompany it. This, however, has become a rarity as well, as the DVD was mail-order only an has been long out-of-print. This has resulted in the DVD commanding high prices and the feature is rarely seen (impossible to find online).
+Neither the sound nor the silent version of ''4 Devils'' is found. Some speculate that one of the film's actresses, Mary Duncan, borrowed the only surviving copy and never returned it to 20th Century Fox. She reportedly misplaced it, though some suspect that her heirs may have found it.
+A slideshow of ''4 Devils'' was included as a special feature on ''Sunrise'''s out-of-print DVD release in 2003. It featured the script played out in its entirety, with rare production photos and vocal narration to accompany it. This special feature has been uploaded on YouTube, which can be found in the source list below.
+==Gallery==
+These are some of the rare photographs taken during and around the time of production.
+<gallery mode=packed heights=230px>
+File:4Devils1.jpg
+File:4Devils2.jpg
+File:4Devils3.jpg
+File:4Devils4.jpg
+</gallery>
+==Sources==
+*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJu5_5zIAhM 2003 Special Feature on ''Sunrise'' DVD]
+*[http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C04E1DD173EE73ABC4C53DFB6678383639EDE New York Times review of the film dating back to 1928]
+*[http://www.classicfilmpreview.com/greatest-lost-film/ Classic Film Preview article about the film]
+*[https://archive.org/details/murnau_4_devils-danish_programme Danish Film Program]
 [[Category:Lost films]]