Credits

Studio: An Artcraft Picture
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Released: December 31, 1917

Featured Cast: Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid

Producer-director: Cecil B. DeMille
Screenwriter: Jeanie Macpherson
Source: the story by Leighton Osmun and Beatrice A. de Mille
Art director: Wilfred Buckland
Cinematographer: Alvin Wyckoff
Editor: Cecil B. DeMille

Theme

An emerald bearing the curse of a Norse queen is accidentally found by a fisherwoman.

Production Quotes

“During the past week Cecil B. DeMille has been busy working at Balboa Beach with Geraldine Farrar and supporting company.”

– J.C. Jessen, “In and Out of West Coast Studios,” Motion Picture News, Vol. 16, No. 13 (September 20, 1917)

Reviews

“The story of The Devil Stone is calculated to boom and roar with creeps, quakes and superstition—signs of witchcraft and the traditional goblins—with a big emerald playing an important part all the way. Allowing for suppositions and certain stretches of the imagination, the picture will interest and entertain.”

– The Weekly Variety, December 21, 1917

Artist Comment

“These pictures were spontaneous. All the elements combined with enthusiasm. That was the secret of their success. On our pictures, there was a great feeling of life.”

– Geraldine Farrar, 1967 interview with Kevin Brownlow, courtesy Photoplay Productions

Figures

The Devil Stone cost $67,413.36 and grossed $296,031.58.
(These figures have not been adjusted for inflation nor do they include the considerable profits realized from reissues, television syndication, and home entertainment formats.)