The Devil's Needle (1916) Fine Arts/Triangle. Directed by Chester Withey. Scenario by Chester Withey and Roy Somerville. Cast: Tully Marshall, Norma Talmadge, Marguerite Marsh, F.A.Turner, Howard Gaye, John Brennan. 5 reels. Copy of the 1923 re-release located at the Library of Congress (35 mm.). Excerpts are available on video
| David White, a famous artist | Tully Marshall |
| Rene, his model | Norma Talmadge |
| Wynne Mortimer | Marguerite Marsh |
| Wm. Mortimer, her father | F.A. Turner |
| Hugh Gordon, his junior partner | Howard Gaye |
| Fritz, janitor of the studio | John Brehnon |
| Buck, a dope | Paul Le Blanc |
"The Devil's Needle in this Triangle-Fine Arts five-reeler is a hypodermic. It's a very commonplace story and picture in these modern days, at least of picture making. The drug story has been so often sheeted there is nothing left for it, unless the Fine Arts plan is to keep drilling against the evil effect of drugs. About the only matter of moment in this film is that it causes two of the characters to renounce the drug habit, one, a girl (Norma Talmadge) very simply by exercising her will power (on a caption) and the other (Tully Marshall) by doing hard farm work in a field. If it's true that hard manual labor will kill the taste for drugs, Chester Withey and Roy Somerville, who wrote this story, deserve to have a niche in the film discovery hall. Mr. Withey directed the film. Everything in and about it is tame. The single chance for box office excitement was to have the posting in the artist's studio run to the censorship edge, but it never even got beyond a Methodist balance. An artists is induced by his model to take an injection of probably morphine. He starts downward in the good old way, but before getting a good start, marries the daughter of a wealthy attorney, said daughter then being engaged to a young man in her father's office. After a year the artist attempts to have his wife try the drug, then he leaves the house, returning to the model for some of the dope, the artist by this time being broke (although he seemed to have various habitations, once on a poor looking street, then again in a white stone edifice). The model, however, had reformed, but she bought the artist some of the drug, gave him a short lecture and the janitor of his flat took him into the country, where he was probably boarded for the work he did, as nothing developed in the film showing any sudden accession of wealth by the artist. It ended in the same old way, in this case very old, almost as old in pictures as this drug thing is. Once upon a time they used drug film as specials in the vice frenzy that nearly put pictures out of business. For the Fine Arts to revive it was to pull what must only be classed as a bad boy.
The Devils Needle (1916, this was a 1923 reissue). Unfortunately
there is quite a bit of decomposition in this print, especially right at the end. Especially unfortunate because it is a really interesting film. I was surprised to see
that Norma's part was more prominent than Marguerite Marsh, who was
playing the wife. Norma plays a drug-addicted artist's model, and a
very impudent character. She persuades artist Tully Marshall to try
the needle as well and he goes completely off the deep end, seeing
visions of girls clad in chiffon in the fireplace and chasing his wife
around with a needle. Norma straightens out and spend the rest of the
film trying to help him. He ends up on a farm ploughing and carrying
on like Eddie Albert in the Green Acres intro. This apparently being
all it takes to kick the habit, he get back to town in time to rescue
his wife from some criminals and redeem himself. Norma is good, Marsh
is a bit dull, and Tully Marshal is entertainingly over the top.
It's sad that this has so much bad footage because it would be have
been great on video.
Print viewed: 35 mm print of the 1923 reissue at the Library of Congress.
More information on this film can be found in:
Brownlow, Kevin. Behind the Mask of Innocence. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.
Last revised, August 11, 2007