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The Sorrows of Satan is a 1926 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith, and based on the 1895 allegorical horror novel The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli.

The Sorrows of Satan
Promotional release poster
Directed by	D. W. Griffith
Written by	Forrest Halsey George C. Hull John Russell
Based on	The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli
Starring	Adolphe Menjou Ricardo Cortez Carol Dempster Lya De Putti Ivan Lebedeff
Cinematography	Harry A. Fischbeck Arthur De Titta
Edited by	Julian Johnson James Smith
Music by	Hugo Riesenfeld
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	October 12, 1926 (1926-10-12)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	Silent film English intertitles

Reportedly Griffith did not want to do this project, but as his first Paramount Pictures assignment he was not given a choice. 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.

The film featured Carol Dempster's final screen role, although she lived until 1991.[1]

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 (Carol Dempster). 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.

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
Nellie Savage	The Dancer

Production

It was Griffith's first film for Paramount Pictures following a string of independent productions. After Griffith finished the film, it was taken out of his control and re-edited by Julian Johnson.

A version of Corelli's novel had been filmed in England in 1917, but Griffith's adaptation was closer to the novel.[2][3][4]

This film, like The Queen of Sheba (1921) and Ben-Hur (1925), was released in a different edit in Europe due to nudity. 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.[5]

Cultural influence

A still from the film was used on the cover of the 1979 song "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by the English band Bauhaus.[6]

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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