Desire (aka The Magic Skin) is a 1920 British silent fantasy film directed by George Edwardes-Hall, produced by Edward Godal, and starring Dennis Neilson-Terry, Yvonne Arnaud and Christine Maitland. The film was known in England as The Magic Skin. The screenplay was based on the 1831 Honoré de Balzac novel Le Peau de Chagrin, which strangely was adapted to film three different times in 1920 alone, the other two being released as The Dream Cheater and Narayama.
Born in 1872, director Hall relocated from his birthplace Brooklyn, New York to England later in life, then moved to California, where he died in 1922. He actually did more screenwriting than directing during his career, and also wrote a number of plays and short stories.
Plot
A man named Valentin obtains a magic shagreen, a leather hide made from the skin of a wild jackass. The shagreen is said to grant its owner's every wish, but at the price of his immortal soul.
Cast
Dennis Neilson-Terry as Raphael Valentin
Yvonne Arnaud as Pauline
Christine Maitland as Fedora
George W. Anson as Duval
Chris Walker as Jonathan
Pardoe Woodman as Emile
Austin Leigh as Andre Valentin
Saba Raleigh as Mother
References
Bibliography
Low, Rachael. History of the British Film, 1918-1929. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.