“SORROWS OF SATAN”

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 64, 7 June 1927, Page 15

“SORROWS OF SATAN”

COMING TO REGENT The role of Amiel, chief aide and disciple of Satan in “Sorrows of Satan,” which D. W. Griffith produced on a lavish scale for Paramount, and which arrives at the New Regent on Friday, was assigned to Ivan Lebedeff, member of a long line of Russian nobility. An inscrutable Fate ordered the circumstances that led to Ivans’ enrolment in Griffith’s cast, which is headed by Adolphe Menjou, Carol Dempster. Ricardo Cortez and Lya de Putti. A refugee from Russia, Lebedeff had found France a haven. He reached Paris in 1923, secured work in motion picture studios there, and gradually worked his way up to important roles Two years later he attended a private showing of D. W. Griffith's “Isn't Life Wonderful?” His own harrowing experiences convinced Lebedeff that only an artist could have captured the sufferings of humanity. He decided that he would go to America, seek Griffith out, and plead for work. Failing, he would give up the screen forever. Immediately on landing, Lebedeff learned that Griffith was combing the ranks of stage and screen actors for a man to play Satan in his projected filming of Marie Corelli’s novel. He succeeded in securing an introduction and a film test. Just about that time, Adolphe Menjou, due to a change in production plans, became available for the role of Satan. Lebedeff was then given the part of Amiel, executor of his sinister , bidding.