''Seven Footprints to Satan'' is a 1929 American mystery film directed by Danish filmmaker
Benjamin Christensen
Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish people, Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he is best known for the 1922 film ''Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Thr ...
. Based on the 1928 story of the same name by
Abraham Merritt
Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...
, it stars
Thelma Todd
Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, she ...
,
Creighton Hale
Creighton Hale (born Patrick Fitzgerald; May 24, 1882 – August 9, 1965) was an Irish-American theatre, film, and television actor whose career extended more than a half-century, from the early 1900s to the end of the 1950s.
Career
Born in Cou ...
,
William V. Mong
William V. Mong (June 25, 1875 – December 10, 1940) was an American film actor, screenwriter and director. He appeared in almost 200 films between 1910 and 1939. His directing (1911–1918) and screenwriting (1911–1922) were mostly for ...
and
Sheldon Lewis
Sheldon Lewis (April 20, 1868 – May 7, 1958) was an American actor of the silent era best known for his antagonistic roles. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1914 and 1936.
Lewis was married to actress Virginia Pearson, and they were ...
. It was first released as a silent film and later as a part-talkie.
Plot
Jim and his fiancee Eve, a young society couple, are kidnapped on the eve of Jim's departure for
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and brought to a mansion that is home to a strange and glamorous cult with a hooded leader called "Satan." Jim is put through a number of strange adventures in the old house and tries to maintain his courage. During the course of the film, Jim encounters an old witch, a dwarf, a gorilla and a strange shaggy creature called "The Spider" (played by Sheldon Lewis). In the end, he is confronted by Satan himself who puts him to a final test. It is revealed to be a hoax played on Jim by his uncle Joe, Eve, and his uncle's employees to convince Jim to forget his adventure plans, stay at home, work for his uncle, and settle down with Eve.
Cast
Production
''Seven Footprints to Satan'' was adapted from the 1928 novel ''7 Footprints to Satan'' by
Abraham Merritt
Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...
.
The screenplay was written by director
Benjamin Christensen
Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish people, Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he is best known for the 1922 film ''Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Thr ...
under the name Richard Bee. Initially overjoyed that his story would be adapted into a film, Merritt later spoke about the film in a 1933 interview, stating that he "sat through the picture and wept. The only similarity between the book and the picture was the title. The picture likewise killed the booksale
..for people who saw the picture felt no impulse thereafter to read the book."
Christensen cast actor Creighton Hale in the role of Jim in an attempt to capitalize on Hale's having starred in ''
The Cat and the Canary'', an earlier similar "old dark house" film.
Release
The silent version of the film was released on January 27, 1929 while a version with sound was released on February 17, 1929.
The original running time of ''Seven Footprints to Satan'' is in question. In his book ''Thrills Untapped: Neglected Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928-1936'', Michael R. Pitts noted that most contemporary reviews stated the film had a 60 minute running time seemingly referring to the sound version of the film. The silent release is listed at being 168 feet shorter than the sound release, with a restored silent version running at around 77 minutes.
Pitts described the film as a "box office flop", with a gross of $129,950.
Critical response
Pitts described that contemporary critics were overall "not impressed" with ''Seven Footprints to Satan''. A review in ''
Film Daily
''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...
'' described the film as a "has of weird and wild doings in a mysterious house with a lot of phony thrills." ''Movie Age'' opined that "Maybe we haven't seen all the so-called mystery-drama-thrillers so far released, but of those what we have seen, this ''Seven Footprints to Satan'' is one of the poorest. There is not a convincing situation in it, and the explanation of it all at the end takes the cake...no rhyme or reason." A review in ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' similarly called the film "all hokum", noting "another of those fright producers, wholly baffling from start to finish. An utterly moronic sound film appealing to all the passions." One reviewer in ''Photoplay'' stated that they loved the title of the film but found it "just a hodgepodge mystery story"
A review in ''
Harrison's Reports
''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...
'' commented that "People will no doubt enjoy this picture provided they don't take it seriously. It is one of the wildest mystery trapdoor melodramas that has been produced in many a moon."
See also
*
List of incomplete or partially lost films
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
Footnotes
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Footprints To Satan (Film)
1929 films
1929 mystery films
American silent feature films
American mystery films
Films directed by Benjamin Christensen
Films based on American horror novels
American black-and-white films
First National Pictures films
1920s American films
Silent mystery films