THE DEVIL’S FOOT (1921)
Article #936 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-7-2003
Posting Date: 3-5-2004
Directed by Maurice Elvey
Featuring Eille Norwood, Hubert Willis, Harvey Braban

Sherlock Holmes finds four dead people seated around a table, and investigates.

The Walt Lee guide describes this one as being borderline horror, but other than the rather bizarre circumstances of the death, I find very little that would qualify this as horror. I’ve read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories at one time or another, but that doesn’t mean I can remember them, so I don’t remember precisely what the devil’s foot is, and unless I missed something in my copy of the movie, there’s no explanation there. It’s a good story, though, and this short adaptation of it works well enough, with Ellie Norwood makes a fairly decent Holmes. Horror fans, however, will find little here to catch their attention.

P.S. I’ve recently been informed that the devil’s foot is the name of the plant that plays a role in the cause of the deaths.