The Devil's Assistant | |
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Directed by | Harry A. Pollard |
Written by | J. Edward Hungerford |
Produced by | Pollard Picture Plays Co. |
Starring | Margarita Fischer |
Distributed by | Mutual Film Company |
Release date |
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Running time | 2 reels, 23 minutes (originally 5 reels) |
Country | USA |
Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
The Devil's Assistant is a silent drama film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring his wife Margarita Fischer. It was based on a scenario written by J. Edward Hungerford and was distributed through the Mutual Film Company. [1] The film includes a notable horror sequence comparing narcotic addiction to the tortures of hell.
Doctor Lorenz (Monroe Salisbury) is in love with Marta (Margarita Fischer), but she spurns him and marries John Lane (Jack Mower), leaving him bitter and resentful. A year later, Marta and John's baby died, and Dr. Lorenz is called in to treat Marta for exhaustion. Determined to steal her away from John, Lorenz decides to treat Marta with narcotics in the hopes of seducing her. Aided by Marion (Kathleen Kirkham), a friend who is in love with John, Dr. Lorenz drives Marta to addiction and dependence on him and convinces her to leave her husband. When they take refuge from a storm in a mountain hut, Lorenz attempts to take advantage of Marta, who is in the throes of drug-induced delirium. In a red-tinted film sequence, Marta sees herself transported to Hades, with hellish visions of torture in “The Devil’s Crucible,” including skeletons on horseback, three-headed dogs, and winged demons with pitchforks. Meanwhile, before Lorenz is able to rape Marta, lightning strikes the hut and they are buried in the ruins. Dr. Lorenz is killed, but John arrives to find Marta alive and carries her away to rebuild their life together.
Originally produced as a five reel feature, The Devil's Assistant was cut down to two for a reissue and that shorter cut is all that has survived. The incomplete 35mm print is held by the USC School of Cinematic Arts Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive. [2]
1917 in film was a particularly fruitful year for the art form, and is often cited as one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1913. Secondarily the year saw a limited global embrace of narrative film-making and featured innovative techniques such as continuity cutting. Primarily, the year is an American landmark, as 1917 is the first year where the narrative and visual style is typified as "Classical Hollywood".
The Master and Margarita is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published in Moscow magazine in 1966–1967, after the writer's death on March 10, 1940, by his widow Elena Bulgakova. The manuscript was not published as a book until 1967, in Paris. A samizdat version circulated that included parts cut out by official censors, and these were incorporated in a 1969 version published in Frankfurt. The novel has since been published in several languages and editions.
Alma Rubens was an American film actress and stage performer.
The Married Virgin is a 1918 American silent drama film starring Vera Sisson, Kathleen Kirkham and Rudolph Valentino. During the early part of his career, Valentino was often cast as a villain or "heavy", his part in The Married Virgin reflects this typecasting.
Tarzan of the Apes is a 1918 American action/adventure silent film directed by Scott Sidney starring Elmo Lincoln, Enid Markey, George B. French and Gordon Griffith.
Human Wreckage is a 1923 American independent silent drama propaganda film that starred Dorothy Davenport and featured James Kirkwood, Sr., Bessie Love, and Lucille Ricksen. The film was co-produced by Davenport and Thomas H. Ince and distributed by Film Booking Offices of America, with a premiere on June 17, 1923. No print of this film is known to exist today, and it is considered a lost film.
Margarita Fisher was an American actress in silent motion pictures and stage productions. Newspapers sometimes referred to her as "Babe" Fischer.
Kathleen Kirkham Woodruff was an American actress on stage and in silent films.
That Devil, Bateese is a 1918 American silent action-drama film directed by William Wolbert and starring Monroe Salisbury, Ada Gleason, and Lon Chaney. The screenplay was written by Bernard McConville, based on a story written by Bess Meredyth. Even though this film was released before some of his earlier Universal films, it was actually Chaney's final film from his first stint at Universal Studios. Filming took place at Big Bear Lake and the San Bernardino National Forest in California. The film is considered lost.
Monroe Salisbury was an American actor. He appeared on the stage for several years and then became an early film star.
Smiling Irish Eyes (1929) is a Vitaphone American pre-Code musical film with Technicolor sequences. The film is now considered a lost film. However, the Vitaphone discs still exist.
Zander the Great is a 1925 American silent comedy drama film directed by George W. Hill, in his first directing role for MGM. The film stars Marion Davies. The screenplay by Frances Marion is based upon the Edward Salisbury Field 1923 play of the same name.
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The House of Lies is a 1916 American silent film drama directed by William Desmond Taylor and written by L. V. Jefferson. The film stars Edna Goodrich, Juan de la Cruz, Kathleen Kirkham, Lucille Ward, Harold Holland and Herbert Standing. The film was released on September 14, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
The Third Kiss is a lost 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Robert G. Vignola, written by Edith M. Kennedy and Heliodore Tenno, and starring Vivian Martin, Harrison Ford, Robert Ellis, Kathleen Kirkham, Thomas Persse, Edna Mae Cooper, and Jane Keckley. It was released on September 14, 1919, by Paramount Pictures.
The Beloved Cheater is a 1919 American silent comedy film, directed by Christy Cabanne. It stars Lew Cody, Doris Pawn, and Eileen Percy, and was released on December 6, 1919.
Their Mutual Child is a lost 1920 American silent comedy-drama film directed by George L. Cox and starring Margarita Fischer, Joseph Bennett and Margaret Campbell. It was based on the 1919 novel of the same name by P. G. Wodehouse.
The Door Between is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Rupert Julian and starring Ruth Clifford, Monroe Salisbury and George A. McDaniel. It is adapted from a story that appeared in serialized editions in McClure's Magazine in 1913–14.
K – The Unknown is a 1924 American silent mystery film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Virginia Valli, Percy Marmont, and Margarita Fischer. It is based on the 1915 novel K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart.
When Dawn Came is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Colin Campbell, starring Lee Shumway, James O. Barrows and Colleen Moore.