Desire (1920 film)

Desire (aka The Magic Skin) is a 1920 British silent fantasy film directed by George Edwardes-Hall, produced by Edward Godal, and starring Dennis Neilson-Terry, Yvonne Arnaud and Christine Maitland.[1] The film was known in England as The Magic Skin. The screenplay was based on the 1831 Honore de Balzac novel Le Peau de Chagrin, which strangely was adapted to film three different times in 1920 alone, the other two being released as The Dream Cheater and Narayama.[2]

Desire
Directed byGeorge Edwardes-Hall
Produced byEdward Godal
Written byGeorge Edwardes-Hall
Honoré de Balzac (novel)
StarringDennis Neilson-Terry
Yvonne Arnaud
Christine Maitland
Production
company
Distributed byButcher's Film Service
Release date
January 1920
Running time
54 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageSilent
English intertitles

Born in 1872, director Hall relocated from his birthplace Brooklyn, New York to England later in life, then moved to California, where he died in 1922. He actually did more screenwriting than directing during his career, and also wrote a number of plays and short stories.[3]

Plot

A man named Valentin obtains a magic shagreen, a leather hide made from the skin of a wild jackass. The shagreen is said to grant its owner's every wish, but at the price of his immortal soul.

Cast

References
  1. Low p.406
  2. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 211.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  3. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 214.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

Bibliography
  • Low, Rachael. History of the British Film, 1918-1929. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.
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