On 16 June 1928, Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World announced that producer Wid Gunning had been hired for three First National pictures, The Haunted House (1928, see entry), The Squall (1929, see entry), and Seven Footprints to Satan. The latter was based on a best-selling 1928 novel 7 Footprints to Satan by Abraham Merritt. Director Benjamin Christensen, who had taken the helm of The Haunted House, signed on to direct Seven Footprints to Satan as of 6 October 1928, according to a Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World item published that day. Modern sources indicate that the writing credit for “Richard Bee” was an alias for Christensen.
       A studio chart in the 17 November 1928 Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World cited a starting date of 29 October 1928 for Seven Footprints to Satan.
       A listing of “New Pictures in Production” in the 9 November 1928 Los Angeles Evening Press included Seven Footprints to Satan. Filming took place at First National’s studio in Burbank, CA. Several contemporary news items, including the 18 November 1928 [Evansville, IN] Evansville Journal added that locations were also shot in Long Island, NY. The 17 November 1928 Motion Picture News listed “Additions to Casts” that included the following actors who were not credited elsewhere: Lew Stern, Arthur Mellett and Edgar Shurod. In addition, an article in the 25 November 1928 [Washington, D.C.] Evening Star, which noted that production was “swinging along at a rapid pace,” included Dan Crimmins, Edna Mae Cooper and Loretta Young. Modern sources also list Tom Amandares, William A. Boardway and Doris Dawson. Indicating that filming was likely taking place on the studio lot in Burbank, the news item stated: “The sets are beautiful or startling. One is a great drawing room in the modern futuristic style, another the great entrance hall and grand staircase in Satan’s home, with sliding panels, revolving doors, secret passages and the like. There are at least half a dozen others of interest.” The makeup for the leading characters alone took seven hours each day to apply, according to an item in the 2 December 1928 [Philadelphia, PA] Inquirer.
       The 26 January 1929 Exhibitors Herald-World announced the film’s release date on 17 February 1929, noting that it was “better than ‘The Haunted House,’” and that “there is no dialogue, but a creepy, spooky succession of sound effects.”
       A review in the 30 March 1929 Harrison’s Reports stated: “People will no doubt enjoy this picture provided they don’t take it seriously. It is one of the wildest mystery trapdoor melodramas that have been produced in many a moon.”
       According to the Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database, this film is extant.