No copies of 4 Devils are known to exist. It’s another lost film from the silent era. It stars Janet Gaynor, who won the first ever Oscar for Best Actress, and Nancy Drexel, Charles Morton, and Barry Norton as a high wire act in a circus. The two men were given as boys to the circus by a poor woman who could not take care of them after they were orphaned by the deaths of their trapeze artist parents. They grow up alongside the two girls, and romances develop as they become adults. (Dawn O’Day, Jack Parker, Anita Fremault, and Philippe De Lacy play the roles as children.) Adolf (Norton) and Louise (Drexel) have the less complicated relationship while Marion (Gaynor) pines for Charles (Morton), who has been having a relationship with a wealthy woman. Their love triangle is apparently the primary focus of the narrative when they are adults. There’s also a dangerous act known as the “Leap of Death” that figures prominently in the conclusion of the plot. The film’s director, F.W. Murnau, is better known for his masterpieces like Sunrise (which had been chosen Best Unique and Artistic Production at the previous year’s Academy Awards) and Nosferatu. He only directed twenty-one films in his short career, and eight of them (including 4 Devils) are lost, a tragedy given the talent he exhibited in the films that remain. Interestingly, 4 Devils was made and originally released as a silent film. Given the success that talkies were beginning to have, the studio decided—after the film was already in theaters—to add sound effects, music, and dialogue to about a quarter of the film. Sadly, neither version, silent nor “sound,” can be found.
Oscar Nomination: Best Cinematography
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