Now that October has come, I've started a string of viewings appropriate to Halloween. Not all of them horrors, mind you. This rather light drama probably never scared anyone much. But the titular devil isn't just a figure of speech.
Surprise: Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) is not one of the two most prominent characters; he kind of hovers in the background until the third act. Instead, Jabez Stone (James Craig, listed at the bottom of the abbreviated IMDb cast!), a New Hampshire farmer with a streak of bad luck in 1840, disregards his strong Christian mother (Jane Darwell) and wife (Anne Shirley) by privately declaring that he'd sell his soul for two cents. Of course, the sudden visitor who goes by the rather forthright name of Scratch (Walter Huston) offers far more than that to seal the deal: a guaranteed seven years of economic prosperity, followed immediately by payment. Stone takes Scratch's word for it that a soul is basically nothing -- which forms a fraction of his defense later on....
An earlier title for this film was All That Money Can Buy. Naturally, the most obvious moral herein is that money can't buy everything. Stone's mores erode with greed, as do his friendships and family ties. His son becomes quite the brat, and his attention wanders to Scratch's beautiful emissary, Belle (Simone Simon, the creepiest element of all). Folks come to suspect the secret to his success.
Fortunately, Stone still reveres Webster, legal champion of the lower class, who has been shown to shout "Be still!" at the devil, with slightly less impressive results than for Max in Where the Wild Things Are. When the seven years are up and Scratch offers Stone an extension only in exchange for his son's soul (they can do that?), Webster heeds the call and hardly sweats the prospect of putting his own soul on the line to serve as Stone's advocate in an unfair court from hell. (A "Simpsons" episode no doubt took inspiration from this story, and I suspect that A Matter of Life and Death/Stairway to Heaven sought to be a partial reversal.)
The tale carries enough deja vu that I don't mind spoiling a bit more. Webster appeals to the empathy of the damned jurors, the most infamous of which is Benedict Arnold (why does IMDb not list any of them, after all those other previously uncredited actors?). More than that, he appeals to their...patriotism. It occurs to me that this movie was made early in World War II, when American zeal mattered more than usual. Coming after many instances of verbal hostility between even New England states, it feels both perplexing and somewhat refreshing.
Dated? Yes, but the special effects are impressive for the time. Amusing? Sure, not least for the delightful Huston's playfully mischievous turns. Annoying? Just get used to hearing "Consarn it" a lot. Endearing? Ultimately. Heavily religious? Nah, atheists would like it too. Must-see? No, but close enough in my book.
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