4 Devils
Murnau's follow-up to Sunrise was released in two versions; neither is now known to survive complete.
Quick facts
- Existence state
- Officially Gone
- Peak stage
- general availability
- Research confidence
- high
- Last verified
What it was
F. W. Murnau's circus drama made for Fox Film Corporation in silent and part-talking versions.
4 Devils was completed and distributed to ordinary audiences in 1928. Like most American silent features, it circulated on vulnerable film stock in an era before systematic preservation, and no complete publicly accessible print is now known.
Existence timeline
4 Devils is completed as a distributable motion picture.
The finished film reaches ordinary cinema audiences.
Known release prints and original elements fail to enter a complete accessible archive.
The Library of Congress documents the severe loss rate of American silent features and the film's survival status.
Archives and researchers still have no complete moving-image copy available.
Why it ended
The released work disappeared as its known distribution copies and original elements failed to survive. No complete moving-image copy is currently known to survive.
Last confirmed trace
The screenplay, stills, production documents and contemporary reviews preserve the clearest account.
What it left behind
Its loss removes a major link between Murnau's celebrated American films and the industry's transition to sound.
How we classified it
The archive unit reached normal public release or operation and is no longer obtainable in its original public form.
Verified normal public availability maps to 100 under Arrival Score V1.
Sources & verification
Last reviewed 2026-08-01. Sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence directly.