The Devil's Needle

Often dismissed as products of a more innocent time, films of the 1910s frequently confronted incendiary social issues with remarkable frankness. By wrapping explosive subject matter within layers of melodrama, filmmakers dodged public criticism while making their political views even more compelling, demonstrating the cinema’s potential as a persuasive cultural force.

THE DEVIL'S NEEDLE stars silent goddess Norma Talmadge as a morphine-addicted artist’s model who sends a neurotic painter (Tully Marshall) down a path of moral deterioration. 

Kino Classics is proud to help resurrect these rare motion pictures—ravaged by time and all but forgotten—and provide a precious glimpse at a fascinating chapter of American film history. Derived from the only known surviving copies, some of the films presented here suffer significant wear and nitrate decomposition. This collection is a sobering reminder of the importance of film preservation.