The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
(black and white, and known by a variety of other names, including All That Money Can Buy)
Seen on 25 October 1997 on Bravo.
I don't always review every movie I see on television, but having seen Devil's Advocate the night before, I felt compelled to make the necessary comparisons.
For those of you who don't know the story: Poor New Hampshire farmer Jabez Stone (James Craig) is about to lose his farm to foreclosure. He has even used all of the butter and egg money his optimistic, devoted wife Mary (Anne Shirley) has set aside, but it is no use. His Ma (Jane Darwell), despite his troubles, won't tolerate his exclamation "consarnit!" Uttering aloud that he would sell his soul to the Devil for two cents, the Dark One appears, in the folksy form of Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston). It's your basic "deal-with-the-devil" storyline. As Jabez enjoys seven years of prosperity, he grows greedy and cruel. The neighbors he once happily helped are practically his slaves a few years later. Craig is able to pull off a range of qualities--sympathetic, cocky and arrogant, desperate.
He begins to disrespect his wife and mother and turns all his attentions to the sultry Belle (played coquettishly by Simone Simon). He builds her a mansion and practically allows her to raise his son, whose hobby is harming all animals great and small. Jabez gives up church--while his wife and mother pray, he and Belle host card games at home.
Meanwhile, Mr. Scratch would love to get his hands on Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold), the New Hampshire politician who might very well be President one day. He also happens to have a namesake and godson in young Daniel Stone. So, when Jabez' seven years are almost up and he panics, Mr. Webster agrees to help him and gives an impassioned oratory against Mr. Scratch's handpicked (and now famous) Jury of the Damned.
The story is extremely simple in its morality, but it is very absorbing thanks to its style. Black and white accentuates the light and shadows. The darks are pitch black and the brights are luminous. Underscoring (no pun intended) it all is the Oscar-winning score by Bernard Herrmann--especially noteworthy in the scene in which Daniel is born and Belle arrives from "over the mountain."
It is also interesting to see how Allied propaganda ensconced itself in this film, even before we got involved in the war. Daniel Webster is the smart politician who is perfectly at home with even the poorest citizen, and above all, a virtuous American. His particular disgust for Benedict Arnold, the only Juror of the Damned who seems ashamed to be seen, is a glaring giveaway.
The ballroom scene is also one of its most memorable. If you have a chance to catch this film on TV or video, do so.
More movie reviews by Seth Bookey, with graphics, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
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