The Four Devils

1920 Drama Directed by A.W. Sandberg

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About The Four Devils

Aimée and Louise, daughters of the circus performer Cecchi, watch two orphaned brothers, Fritz and Adolf, sold into the troupe and beaten into shape. The four children become a trapeze act billed as the Four Devils. Aimée falls in love with Fritz, but he takes up with a countess, grows slack, and starts missing his catches. At a benefit he tries the somersault with no net, misses Aimée's hands, and falls from the top of the tent. She jumps after him.

Cast & crew

More about The Four Devils

A. W. Sandberg directed this German silent film from Herman Bang's novella De Fire Djævle. Karl Rosenbaum wrote the screenplay, Gustave Preiss photographed it, and Fritz Seyffert designed the sets. German censors passed it on November 24, 1920 (B.00812) with a youth ban. The premiere was November 26, 1920, at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin. The Danish Film Institute lists the length as 2,220 meters, tinted.

Themes

  • Children sold to a circus
  • A trapeze act called the Four Devils
  • A countess and a missed catch
  • circus
  • trapeze
  • Fritz
  • Aimée
  • countess
  • somersault without a net
  • Herman Bang

Reviews

Neue Kino-Rundschau, on January 15, 1921, wrote that Sandberg's direction showed a feel for scale and mood. Paimann's Filmlisten called the material highly dramatic and the photography, acting, and sets excellent, and marked it a top hit.

Look

Gustave Preiss photographed the film in Berlin. Release prints were tinted.

Preservation

A copy is on the Internet Archive. The Danish Film Institute records an original length of 2,220 meters.

Notes

  • The German title is Die Benefiz-Vorstellung der vier Teufel. It was also called Die vier Teufel.
  • Ernst Winar plays Fritz, Margarete Schlegel plays Aimée, Victor Colani plays Adolf, Heidi Ford plays Louise, and Vera Hella plays the countess. Martin Herzberg plays Fritz as a boy.
  • Vienna screenings began on January 5, 1921. The Danish opening was February 23, 1921, at the Kinopalæet in Copenhagen, through Kinografen.
  • Bang's story was filmed in Denmark in 1911 by Robert Dinesen and Alfred Lind, and again in Hollywood in 1928 by F. W. Murnau. The Murnau film is lost.

Scenes

  • At the benefit, Fritz attempts the somersault with no net, misses Aimée, and falls.
  • Aimée throws herself from the trapeze after him.

Influenced by

  • De Fire Djævle (novella by Herman Bang)

Also available

  • Internet Archive (silent-die-benefiz-vorstellung-der-vier-teufel)

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