Seven Footprints to Satan
1929 film by Benjamin Christensen
Seven Footprints to Satan is a Synchronized sound 1929 American mystery film directed by Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen. Based on the 1928 story of the same name by Abraham Merritt, it stars Thelma Todd, Creighton Hale, William V. Mong and Sheldon Lewis. Although originally planned as a part-talkie, the film was released as a synchronized film only as evidenced by all period reviews that specifically mention that the film is "Synchronized" with Exhibitors Herald World specifically stating "there is no dialogue." The film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The film survives at the Cineteca Italiana in an alternate sound version known as an International Sound Version. The sound disks for this foreign sound version are not known to be extant.
Plot
Jim Kirkham, a wealthy young man devoted to exploration and the collecting of exotic curiosities, is taken to task by his uncle for his extravagance. Obsessed with mysterious artifacts and unorthodox scientific experiments, Jim has turned his home into a kind of personal museum and laboratory. He is in love with Eve Martin, the daughter of a renowned gem collector.
At a glittering reception at Eve’s home, a rare and fabulous jewel is exhibited. But amid a series of strange and unexplained occurrences, the gem mysteriously disappears.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Seven Footprints to Satan” is 1929 film by Benjamin Christensen. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Seven, Footprints and Satan, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “1929 film by Benjamin Christensen” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7457260. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1929 and 1928.
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This entry incorporates text from “Seven Footprints to Satan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.