The Devil (1921 film)
1921 film directed by James Young
The Devil is a surviving 1921 silent drama film directed by James Young and starring stage actor George Arliss in a film version of his 1908 Broadway success of Ferenc Molnár's play, The Devil (aka Az ördög) [1]. Long thought to be a lost film, a print was discovered in the 1990s and restored by the Library of Congress.
This was George Arliss' first film following a successful career on Broadway. Arliss' wife Florence Arliss co-starred with him in the film, and continued to do so until he died in 1946. Director Young was silent screen star Clara Kimball Young's ex-husband. Future Oscar-winner Fredric March had an uncredited bit part in the film.
Plot
The Devil, in the guise of a human named Dr. Muller (Arliss), meets a young couple (Marie and her fiance Georges) who remark upon looking at a Renaissance painting of a martyr that Evil could never triumph over Good. The Devil, taking this as a challenge, decides to bring about the couple's downfall. In the end, Marie resorts to the power of prayer and a shining crucifix appears that causes the Devil to disappear in a burst of flames.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Devil (1921 film)” as 1921 film directed by James Young. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1921 film directed by James Young. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q48674657. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1921, 1908 and 1946.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Devil (1921 film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Devil (1921 film) primary sources, The Devil (1921 film) archive and Devil research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “The Devil (1921 film)” 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.