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Post by wmcclain on Apr 14, 2020 12:13:42 GMT
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), produced and directed by William Dieterle. (Aka All That Money Can Buy and Mr. Scratch, Daniel and the Devil and Here Is a Man). After a long string of bad luck and imminent loss of his farm, Jabez Stone receives an interesting proposition from the infernal Mr Scratch -- Walter Huston as a jolly leprechaun -- to sell his soul in exchange for wealth and all that money can buy. For seven years. After that: why worry? Which Jabez does, signing in blood and with the due date burned into the bark of a tree. His fortunes improve immediately, but we suspect how this is going to go. I had long heard of this but never seen it before. I think it is more popular among film fans than general audiences. Buffs appreciate the director, cast and crew, cinematographer Joseph H. August ( Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Portrait of Jennie (1948), They Were Expendable (1945)) and imaginative score by Bernard Herrmann, his second. Edited by Robert Wise. While appreciating all that and the fantasy concept, I found it to drag. Jabez's self-degradation goes on and on. I would have liked a more appealing actor in that part. The home video version is the restored original cut, longer than was commonly seen before. I did find much to like. Anne Shirley ( Murder, My Sweet (1944)) looks like an RKO version of Olivia de Havilland. One night she gives her husband the most subtle "come hither" expression I have ever seen in film. Watch closely: He gets the message: nine months later they have a baby. Other intriguing aspects: - Edward Arnold gets a break from villain roles to play statesman Daniel Webster who argues for his client's soul before a jury of the damned.
- I did not know: Webster was a New England folk hero, his "friend of the farmer and common man" persona imperfectly matching the historical character.
- Thomas Mitchell originally had the part and filmed most of the movie in scene order until he suffered a serious crash in the horse carriage and was hospitalized. His injuries were particularly severe because he was trying to protect the child in the carriage with him.
- The temperature rises sharply with the appearance of fire-spirit succubus Simone Simon (Cat People (1942), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), Le Plaisir (1952)). When introduced as the new house maid the other women say "She's what?" Later when Jabez has built his mansion she moves in with him and it is her house.
- I did not spot this at first, but when Miser Stevens is paid off with new found "Hessian gold", he compares the coins with his own and with increasing dread finds them to be identical. We later discover he has made the same deal with the devil.
- Miser Stevens is played by prolific character actor John Qualen, who I always think of as Muley in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Berger in Casablanca (1942).
- The fairy tale becomes ever darker as Jabez's damnation grows on him, culminating in a nightmare danse macabre at the big house. We see the souls Mr Scratch collects: like small squeaking moths.
Available on DVD from Criterion with an informative commentary track on the production and score.
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Post by petrolino on Apr 14, 2020 18:17:34 GMT
I adore this movie. Bernard Herrmann's score is a joy. I think more attention could fall upon the fantasy films of the 1940s as they seem to fall beneath the shadow of film noir. Another I like from director William Dieterle is 'Portrait Of Jennie' (1948).
Thanks for the review.
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Post by Prime etc. on Apr 14, 2020 20:18:10 GMT
I really liked the Huston performance. Amusing yet sinister.
There's a 1970s giallo where George Rigaud has an uncanny resemblance to Huston in this particular film (unintentional but really funny how much they looked alike, even the same hat).
Daniel Webster: Oh, it's you again. What do you want?
Mr. Scratch: Well, with the presidential election coming up, I thought I could be of some help, sir.
Daniel Webster: I'd rather see you on the side of the opposition.
Mr. Scratch: Oh, I'll be there, too.
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Post by Prime etc. on Apr 14, 2020 21:04:21 GMT
I see there were two radios versions of it. Principle cast did one, and years later Huston did another alone.
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Post by mattgarth on Apr 14, 2020 21:11:55 GMT
Scratch's distinctive headgear at certain angles seems to suggest that he has ... horns!
(the last shot as he points at us, especially -- see Wm's bottom right still image)
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Post by mortsahlfan on Apr 14, 2020 21:46:21 GMT
10/10
I love this movie. It's probably in my Top 15-20.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Apr 17, 2020 17:10:05 GMT
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), produced and directed by William Dieterle. (Aka All That Money Can Buy and Mr. Scratch, Daniel and the Devil and Here Is a Man). After a long string of bad luck and imminent loss of his farm, Jabez Stone receives an interesting proposition from the infernal Mr Scratch -- Walter Huston as a jolly leprechaun -- to sell his soul in exchange for wealth and all that money can buy. For seven years. After that: why worry? Which Jabez does, signing in blood and with the due date burned into the bark of a tree. His fortunes improve immediately, but we suspect how this is going to go. I had long heard of this but never seen it before. I think it is more popular among film fans than general audiences. Buffs appreciate the director, cast and crew, cinematographer Joseph H. August ( Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Portrait of Jennie (1948), They Were Expendable (1945)) and imaginative score by Bernard Herrmann, his second. Edited by Robert Wise. While appreciating all that and the fantasy concept, I found it to drag. Jabez's self-degradation goes on and on. I would have liked a more appealing actor in that part. The home video version is the restored original cut, longer than was commonly seen before. I did find much to like. Anne Shirley ( Murder, My Sweet (1944)) looks like an RKO version of Olivia de Havilland. One night she gives her husband the most subtle "come hither" expression I have ever seen in film. Watch closely: He gets the message: nine months later they have a baby. Other intriguing aspects: - Edward Arnold gets a break from villain roles to play statesman Daniel Webster who argues for his client's soul before a jury of the damned.
- I did not know: Webster was a New England folk hero, his "friend of the farmer and common man" persona imperfectly matching the historical character.
- Thomas Mitchell originally had the part and filmed most of the movie in scene order until he suffered a serious crash in the horse carriage and was hospitalized. His injuries were particularly severe because he was trying to protect the child in the carriage with him.
- The temperature rises sharply with the appearance of fire-spirit succubus Simone Simon (Cat People (1942), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), Le Plaisir (1952)). When introduced as the new house maid the other women say "She's what?" Later when Jabez has built his mansion she moves in with him and it is her house.
- I did not spot this at first, but when Miser Stevens is paid off with new found "Hessian gold", he compares the coins with his own and with increasing dread finds them to be identical. We later discover he has made the same deal with the devil.
- Miser Stevens is played by prolific character actor John Qualen, who I always think of as Muley in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Berger in Casablanca (1942).
- The fairy tale becomes ever darker as Jabez's damnation grows on him, culminating in a nightmare danse macabre at the big house. We see the souls Mr Scratch collects: like small squeaking moths.
Available on DVD from Criterion with an informative commentary track on the production and score. That GIF is so sexy, I would take that any day over full frontal nudity shots, that really is a come hither and screw me to the wall act of simple suggestion.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Apr 17, 2020 17:12:53 GMT
Beware of Wolves in Sheep's Clothing.
The Devil and Daniel Webster is directed by William Dieterle and written by Dan Totheroh and Stephen Vincent Benet. It stars Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, James Craig, Anne Shirley, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon and Gene Lockhart. Music is by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Joseph H. August.
Poor farmer Jabez Stone (Craig) utters in frustration that he would sell his soul to the devil for two cents such is the destitution he and his family find themselves in. So when the mysterious Mr. Scratch (Huston) turns up with the offer of seven years prosperity, Jabez is only too happy to sign away his soul to Scratch's contract. Prosperity does indeed come, but also a change in Stone alienates his loved ones, and just what will happen when the seven years are up?
Dieterle's Faustian movie was met with decent critical notices upon release but failed to make a hit at the box offices. It was subsequently snipped by the studio and reduced from a 107 minute movie to one that was shown in a sub-standard 85 minute cut. Suffice to say that the original cut is really the only version to see, it's a no brainer.
I'd fight 10,000 devils to save a New Hampshire man.
The Devil and Daniel Webster is a film of surreal and ethereal qualities, qualities that sit snugly alongside the moral core of the tale. The story follows the familiar Faust route, man sells his soul but comes to regret it as his character changes for the worse and promptly wants out of the deal before he has to go live with Old Nick and all his hellish instruments. Here there's the heavy vibe of America's soul being fought for, so enter famed lawyer Daniel Webster (Arnold) who rocks up to try to save the now frantic Jabez Stone. Not easy since the jury is a roll call of badness and Mr. Scratch himself is of course a wily old fox.
The closing court sequences are just one of many great moments in the piece. Others include a ball at the Stone residence that is tinged with supernatural edginess, a barn dance that is borderline demonic, and Belle's (a stunningly sensual Simon) disarming dance of death. Herrmann crafts an aural sculpture of a musical score that blends ghostly tensions with tongue in cheek slyness, while Huston, Arnold and Simon give terrific performances. On the negative side Craig is way too animated throughout, irritatingly so, while the set design for 1840s New Hampshire barely passes muster for period oomph. Other than those itches this rounds out as thoroughly enjoyable entertainment, a film thriving on character disintegration and greed in some fantastical noirish realm. 7.5/10
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Post by london777 on Apr 17, 2020 19:04:03 GMT
That GIF is so sexy, I would take that any day over full frontal nudity shots, that really is a come hither and screw me to the wall act of simple suggestion. Watched it three times and cannot see anything. Too subtle for me, I'm afraid. I would have said "If you haven't got anything to say for yourself, I'm off down the pub to play bar billiards."
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Apr 17, 2020 21:16:18 GMT
That GIF is so sexy, I would take that any day over full frontal nudity shots, that really is a come hither and screw me to the wall act of simple suggestion. Watched it three times and cannot see anything. Too subtle for me, I'm afraid. I would have said "If you haven't got anything to say for yourself, I'm off down the pub to play bar billiards."
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Post by hi224 on Apr 18, 2020 6:51:10 GMT
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), produced and directed by William Dieterle. (Aka All That Money Can Buy and Mr. Scratch, Daniel and the Devil and Here Is a Man). After a long string of bad luck and imminent loss of his farm, Jabez Stone receives an interesting proposition from the infernal Mr Scratch -- Walter Huston as a jolly leprechaun -- to sell his soul in exchange for wealth and all that money can buy. For seven years. After that: why worry? Which Jabez does, signing in blood and with the due date burned into the bark of a tree. His fortunes improve immediately, but we suspect how this is going to go. I had long heard of this but never seen it before. I think it is more popular among film fans than general audiences. Buffs appreciate the director, cast and crew, cinematographer Joseph H. August ( Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Portrait of Jennie (1948), They Were Expendable (1945)) and imaginative score by Bernard Herrmann, his second. Edited by Robert Wise. While appreciating all that and the fantasy concept, I found it to drag. Jabez's self-degradation goes on and on. I would have liked a more appealing actor in that part. The home video version is the restored original cut, longer than was commonly seen before. I did find much to like. Anne Shirley ( Murder, My Sweet (1944)) looks like an RKO version of Olivia de Havilland. One night she gives her husband the most subtle "come hither" expression I have ever seen in film. Watch closely: He gets the message: nine months later they have a baby. Other intriguing aspects: - Edward Arnold gets a break from villain roles to play statesman Daniel Webster who argues for his client's soul before a jury of the damned.
- I did not know: Webster was a New England folk hero, his "friend of the farmer and common man" persona imperfectly matching the historical character.
- Thomas Mitchell originally had the part and filmed most of the movie in scene order until he suffered a serious crash in the horse carriage and was hospitalized. His injuries were particularly severe because he was trying to protect the child in the carriage with him.
- The temperature rises sharply with the appearance of fire-spirit succubus Simone Simon (Cat People (1942), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), Le Plaisir (1952)). When introduced as the new house maid the other women say "She's what?" Later when Jabez has built his mansion she moves in with him and it is her house.
- I did not spot this at first, but when Miser Stevens is paid off with new found "Hessian gold", he compares the coins with his own and with increasing dread finds them to be identical. We later discover he has made the same deal with the devil.
- Miser Stevens is played by prolific character actor John Qualen, who I always think of as Muley in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Berger in Casablanca (1942).
- The fairy tale becomes ever darker as Jabez's damnation grows on him, culminating in a nightmare danse macabre at the big house. We see the souls Mr Scratch collects: like small squeaking moths.
Available on DVD from Criterion with an informative commentary track on the production and score. did he deserve best actor?.
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Post by Prime etc. on Apr 20, 2020 6:32:59 GMT
The Cavalcade radio version with the main cast. No Belle. "Allow me to congratulate you. You're going to be the wealthiest man in the country." "Well I'll be d-----." "Yes yes yes, yes indeed but not now, not for seven years!"
There's a long ad at the end about Vitamin D.
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