The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
A down-on-his-luck farmer makes a deal with the devil for seven years of prosperity. When Mr. Scratch comes to collect, orator and hero of the common man Daniel Webster comes to the rescue (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: William Dieterle
Written By: Dan Totheroh, Stephen Vincent Benet
Starring: Jane Darwell, Gene Lockhart, Edward Arnold, John Qualen, H.B. Warner, Walter Huston, James Craig, Anne Shirley, Simone Simon
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
AKA: All That Money Can Buy
Country: USA
Where to Stream
Loading...
The Devil and Daniel Webster belongs to 22 collections
1. Criterion Collection (public: moderated by caffe - 163 stars)
2. Psychotronic Film and Video Guides (public: moderated by Gregzilla - 39 stars)
3. Jonathan Rosenbaum's Top 1000 Movies (public: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 38 stars)
4. Academy Award - Oscar - ALL Best Picture, Directing, Acting & Screenplay Nominees (public - 22 stars)
5. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (public: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
6. Best film of top directors (public: moderated by avgcrtckr - 14 stars)
7. Doubling The Canon (public - 13 stars)
8. Best of Classic Old Hollywood (pre-70s) (public: moderated by 90sCoffee - 6 stars)
9. Masters of Cinema (public: moderated by hristos - 5 stars)
10. Doubling The Canon (2010 update) (public: moderated by MMAlpha - 5 stars)
11. Satan (personification) (public: moderated by Dorkovsky - 3 stars)
12. Character name in title (public: moderated by Pickpocket - 2 stars)
13. Bernard Herrmann (composer) (public: moderated by djross - 1 star)
14. Doubling the Canon (2011 update) (public: moderated by MMAlpha - 1 star)
15. Doubling the Canon (2012 update) (public: moderated by Cinephile - 1 star)
16. Halliwell's Four Star Films (public: moderated by Maaxwell - 1 star)
17. Integrity (or lack of) (public)
18. DtC Doubling the Canon 2021 Nominees (public: moderated by lineuphere)
19. Coheed's Films I Need To See Or Try To Track Down (private: Coheed - 3 stars)
20. Every Film Nominated For An Oscar (private: cayh - 1 star)
21. HDD 151029 (private: caffe)
22. Forrest Watch List (private: ForrestQ)
Browse the full list of collections
| Date | User | Rating | |
| Sep 09, 2020 |  |
Barko | 81 66% |
|
The climax this film when Daniel Webster confronts the Devil is beautiful (although a little too romantically patriotic). Walter Huston as the devil is perfect.
|
|||
| Apr 15, 2019 |  |
mrarn | 65 86% |
|
This is a film that preaches at you from start to finish, but it has just enough wit to make it enjoyable.
|
|||
| Feb 13, 2018 |  |
ribcage | 74 66% |
|
Huston gives an enchanting performance as The Devil.smooth, slick, charmer, cartoonish but not outlandish.really embodies "impish" with this airy, humorous performance, hiding the dark, sinister side under the smiling, outgoing veneer.Craig for his part is competent.He's capable, but his presence is lacking.decline of Craig's character flowed well-the devil taking a bit of his soul at a time through various means done as a devious series of events rather than all at once wish-fulfillment.
|
|||
| Jun 20, 2017 | PUNQ | 80 99% |
|
|
Spellbindingly devilish!
|
|||
| Mar 30, 2017 |  |
htiman | 60 23% |
|
It has several good element,s but the corruption of the farmer goes on way too long, and there isn't enough of the twi title characters. If the movie was about 20 minutes shorter, it would probably work a lot better.
|
|||
| Mar 04, 2017 |  |
Maaxwell | 75 70% |
|
This Faustian drama set in 1840s America boasts an entertainingly-told story that builds to its crescendo superbly, but sadly Webster's climactic words are neither particularly rousing nor memorable, leaving the resolution rather flat. It's ultimately Huston, enjoying himself enormously as the devilish Mr. Scratch, who leaves the most enduring impression.
|
|||
| Jan 25, 2017 | caffe | 65 58% |
|
|
Immensely entertaining version of a classic tale, with Huston maybe the best screen devil ever (sorry, South Park Satan).
|
|||
| Jan 28, 2016 |  |
TheDiceman | 80 95% |
|
Brilliant.
|
|||
| Apr 14, 2015 |  |
Fuentissimo | 40 36% |
|
A folksy morality story about greed. Though it has a religious tone, the film is more tall tale about Daniel Webster whose morality is more about U.S. nationalism regarding freedom and the Constitution than the gospel of Christianity.
|
|||
| Jan 04, 2015 |  |
comepelicula | 30 12% |
|
I had high hopes for this movie, but it is over preachy, not believable and the script feels very outdated. This movie has a remake (I haven't watched the remake and I don't intent to) and there is no director that could save this script for modern standard movies. The acting is fine and is nice to have a look on how people lived and what they believed in that time.
|
|||
| Mar 13, 2013 |  |
SirRobbie | 80 81% |
|
Dieterle knows how to create atmosphere and builds this drama nicely till that unfortunate cheesy ending, which in its own cheese-terms is still good. Enjoyed it very much.
|
|||
| Dec 23, 2012 | xacviant | 90 92% |
|
|
A troubled farmer impulsively sells his soul to the Devil, and when he comes to regret it, turns to Daniel Webster for help. Cue a trial with a jury of the damned. As awesome as it sounds, a fantastic fable with a unique, almost European flavor; brilliantly directed by William Dieterle, with Bernard Herrman's lovely, folk song-ish, Oscar-winning score. Walter Huston is great fun as the Devil (the final shot is priceless), Edward Arnold is a fine Webster, and James Craig is spot-on as the farmer.
|
|||
| Nov 26, 2010 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 83 72% |
|
Simplistic moral allegory with an uninteresting lead. But the film makes up for that and more with an absolutely pitch perfect visual style combined with the screen presence of Huston, Simon.
|
|||
| Apr 14, 2010 |  |
Dorkovsky | 8 90% |
|
Very Capra-esque, it hits all the right notes perfectly. Not that I find that to be a bad thing, but in tradition of that, it is rather corny, while still never feeling forced, making the saccharine sensibilities much easier to swallow and actually quite effective despite its transparency. Noteworthy visuals as well.
|
|||
| Mar 21, 2010 |  |
Nathan S | 4 74% |
|
A cheesy moralistic allegory, but directed with such stylistic flourish that it's a joy to watch. Walter Huston is fantastic as the dastardly Mr. Scratch, at once an appealing and unsympathetic character.
|
|||
| Dec 13, 2009 | LPhovercraft | 71 63% |
|
|
This wickedly witty tale delivers some potent messages. Huston gives a dazzling performance.
|
|||
| Dec 30, 2008 |  |
bellamyr | 69 35% |
|
Quirky and off beat drama playing on the theme of trading your soul with the devil. Very much of its time with some (hopefully) unintended xenophia betraying the fears of the early 1940's
|
|||
| Nov 10, 2008 | IHateMovies | 80 46% |
|
|
Fun little thing.
|
|||
| Apr 28, 2008 |  |
SlrSoapbox | 80 75% |
|
It's an amusing little story (though I guess I wasn't supposed to find it funny), even though it paints Daniel Webster as some sort of saint when history shows he wasn't. Mr. Scratch is the highlight of this, especially in the ending scene.
|
|||
| Apr 24, 2008 |  |
miss jesus | 65 58% |
|
It's alright... I would have enjoyed it a lot more if Jabez had displayed any other emotion about his newfound fortune than simply wavering between pride and panic.
|
|||
| Sep 30, 2007 |  |
tonydal | 65 28% |
|
A bit on the hokey side.
|
|||
| Jun 13, 2007 |  |
Stain | 80 68% |
|
Lovely little courtroom drama of the fantastic. One of the very few movies in which the Big Speech at the end actually works
|
|||
| Feb 07, 2007 |  |
MartinTeller | 72 41% |
|
The story is okay, but too moralizing and patriotic for my tastes... rather Capra-esque in its glorification of God, country, and good old-fashioned family values. And when the sole foreigner (Simone Simon) is cast as a representative of the devil, one wonders if there might be a touch of xenophobia lurking as well. However, the Herrmann score is wonderful, and the film has some truly incredible cinematography (the harvest dance scene is a masterwork of lighting).
|
|||
| Average Percentile 65.53% from 216 Ratings |  |