Devil and Daniel Webster, The (1941)
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| The film under it initial title of "All That Money Can Buy" |
Director: William Dieterle
Honors:
Stories of men making deals with the devil are as old as time. Here in
the film The Devil and Daniel Webster,
based on the 1936 Saturday Evening Post story that was later published into a book,
we receive a folksy, American take of the Faustian tale. The result would a
motion picture with a mix of wonderful as well as poor acting within a morality
story that was meant to frighten audiences with the idea that devil is always
watching out for his opportunity to snatch up souls.
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| Jebez meets Belle, the "home-wrecker" of the picture. |
The Devil and Daniel Webster is
a fantasy/drama about a poor New England farmer who sells his soul for wealth
and prosperity until the devil comes to collect on his due. Downtrodden Jebez
Stone (James Craig hits troubled times while on his farm and it looks like he
will lose everything while attempting to support his wife, Mary (Anne Shirley),
and mother (Jane Darwell) until, out of frustration, he proclaims he would sell
his soul for some money. Out of nowhere appears Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston),
the manifestation of the devil in the form of a drifter. Jebez makes a deal
with Scratch that brings him prosperity for exactly seven years, that is when
Scratch will return to collect Jebez’s soul. In those seven years Jebez changes
from a humble farmer to a farming tycoon who alienates all his old friends and nearly
destroys his home life by tacking up a mistress in a devilishly beautiful woman,
who is actually a manifestation meant to tempt him, named Belle (Simone Simon).
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| The jury of the damned looks on to judge on Jebez's soul. |
As the seven years come close to an end Jebez becomes ever more aware
that his deal was a poor decision and when Scratch returns to collect his payment.
In an act of humble forgiveness for his actions, Jebez begs for the help of dear
friend, and infamous Congressman of the people Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold),
to help deliver him from Scratch. Webster makes a deal with Scratch for a fair
trial for Jebez’s soul. However, Scratch assembles a “jury of the damned”
containing American figures who have all done devious deeds in history for the
trial. Scratch’s contract with Jebez appears damning, but Webster’s defense
being that Jebez’s soul belongs to his country and family sways the jury and
Jebez’s soul is exonerated. Scratch leaves with one last temptation of Webster
to help him with a possible Presidential campaign, for which Webster casts
Scratch away one last time. The closing image of the film leaves a close up of
Scratch contemplating his next move before staring directly into camera,
leaving the menacing idea that the devil is after you next.
The picture appears to begin with the overly simple production quality
and writing of a Hollywood B-movie with rather stiff, two-dimensional acting
and a simplistic story of right and wrong, but turns into a morality play whose
saving grace in the performances of Walter Huston and Edward Arnold. One can
struggle over whether they believe the film was good or poor, but in the end I
am going to say it is a solid film with heavy religious tones which would more
likely be enjoyed by a Christian, or didactic audience and ridiculed by those
that shun religion or the idea of a devil.
This morality play directed by William Dieterle, whose recent famous
works include The Hunchback of Notre Dame
and Oscar Award nominated The Story
of Louis Pasteur, appears to a simply shot picture than his more lavish
past works, with hits of the filmmaker’s skill on a limited sets with limited
means. With nearly all shots obviously produced within soundstages the feature
loses a sense of scope, feeling creatively confined and heavily contained in
certain spaces, adding to the difficulty for one to becoming engrossed in the
overly sappy story. However, it can be felt that the picture does give off the
feeling of a stage play, confined to small areas at a time, with a manageable
cast with a villain that tends to poke his head in merely from time to time to
remind audiences of the nature of the moral.
The film features the performance of James Craig as Jebez, the man that
sold his soul to the devil. Craig to this point has been primarily featured in
B-films or serials in the movie industry and it shows in his performance. He is
stiff as a performer and tends to speak near all his lines with the same volume
and inflection, as if he is simply reciting lines and not really getting into
character. If there is one actor you wished could be replaced it would be him.
Craig’s character is accented by the two individuals that love him the
most, his wife and mother, played respectfully by Anne Shirley and Jane
Darwell. Shirley’s performance is almost equally stiff as Craig’s, but plays
the victim of neglect, but remains the unconditionally loving wife as straight
as possible. Darwell generally plays her customary motherly character, which a
woman of her stature and build tended to play in her days on film, as we have
seen her perform before in the 1940 Oscar winning picture The Grapes of Wrath. She appears to be a simple copy of her other
performances.
The title characters of the film are played marvelously by Walter
Huston and Edward Arnold. Huston, a career film actor going back to the days
silent movies, as Mr. Scratch controls every moment he is on screen. Perhaps it
was planned to be that way, but in any case Huston personifies the idea of the
devil so well in his country get up amazing well with his toothy grin and
expressive brow allowing himself to be the slimy character that efforts to
tempt every moan he comes across. His performance simply steals the show.
Adding to his performance is the creative use of a substance known by some as
“flash paper” where Huston, as Scratch, is able to make certain paper items, in
this case his “business card,” disappear in a quick flash of flame by a simple
touch of his lit cigar; a remarkable theatrical trick that plays well for this
devil character.
Edward Arnold was cast as Daniel Webster in order to fix the problem of
losing Thomas Mitchell midway through production. While Academy Award winner
Thomas Mitchell was originally acting as the virtuous Congressman from New
Hampshire was shooting a scene on a horse drawn carriage he lost control of the
horses, fell, and seriously fractured his skull. While hospitalized Mitchell
was replaced by Arnold, who shared a similar build to Mitchell, and had his own
commanding presence. Dieterle and Arnold worked on many reshoots to make up for
losing Mitchell at a quickened pace, and Arnold provided a first rate
performance seamlessly filling in the hole. No one would ever be able to tell
that there was originally another actor meant to portray Webster as Edward
Arnold owned the character of the virtuous man of the people..
Upon release the title of The
Devil and Daniel Webster was altered to and renamed All That
Money Can Buy to avoid confusion with audiences with the similarly titled The Devil and Miss Jones which released
earlier in the year of 1941. As time passed and the film was re-released the
title reverted to its intended form of The
Devil and Daniel Webster, the title the film would appropriately fit in the
minds of cinema audiences.
The film featured works of composer Bernard Herman, who also did the
music for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane that
same year as well as many of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest films in the future. Herman
would be nominated for his music at that year’s Academy Awards and won his
first Oscar in his illustrious career for his folksy, dramatic music for his
work on The Devil and Daniel Webster.
Walter Huston’s performance also garnered him Oscar attention as he was
nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Upon initial release critics generally gave the feature favorable
reviews, but the film ultimately lost money at the box office and was failure
in its initial run. When RKO later re-released the picture the studio edited
out over twenty minutes from the film with crude cuts to the negative just for
the sake of cutting down the run time and fitting other material on the bill at
theaters. It would be decades before the film would be reassembled once again
in the 1990s where new generations of audiences would be able to enjoy the
picture as it was originally intended.
Looking back on The Devil and
Daniel Webster the film can be enjoyed by audiences that do not mind the
simple religious undertones. Some might find the poorer acting within the
feature distracting or may thing the overly moral undercurrents annoying, but
as a ethical tale about working hard for what one earns this feature can be
appreciated for what it is valued. If anything is worth noting, it is the
excellent acting of Walter Huston as Mr. Scratch as he plays evil remarkable
well and is worth looking at for his performance alone.
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