The Devil & Daniel Webster

1941, Director: William Dieterle, Starring: Edward Albert, Walter Huston, Running Time: 106
Minutes.

This is another of those “forgotten gems” that I love to talk about. It’s a solid and
atmospheric fairy-tale slice of New Hampshire Americana, the story of a poor farmer who gets
so sick and tired of his constant string of bad luck that he sells his soul to Mr. Scratch. For
those of you who are unfamiliar with that name, it’s an old New England name for the Devil.

So Scratch, played with humor, gusto and sly wickedness by Walter Huston, gives the farmer
7 years of prosperity in exchange for his soul, with an option for renewal. When the time is
up, and Scratch reveals that the terms for renewal include the farmer giving up the soul of his
infant son, the poor man turns to the one person in the United States who can help him: the
great orator and statesman, Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts.

In a great twist, Webster invokes the right to a trial by a jury of your peers – and Scratch
complies, but the peers he brings forth are the wickedest, blackest, most despicable collection
of characters ever to grace our shores, starting with Captain Kidd, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach,
and General Benedict Arnold! I won’t mention anymore except to say that Webster issues a
stirring oration in defense of the farmer’s soul that is refreshingly free of any biblical,
Christian, or other religious overtones but calls instead on the bedrock values of American
society – that all men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.

Director William Dieterle uses light and shadow to create a strong expressionistic atmosphere
and introduces the otherworldly characters with effective backlighting and a weird echo-
chamber effect in their voices. Huston is simply outstanding as Scratch, who appears and
reappears in the oddest places – leading a parade in honor of Webster, playing the fiddle in a
barn dance, as a shadowy voice tempting Webster to drop his principles to become President,
etc. Edward Albert as Webster is an imposing presence with a sonorous and oratorical voice,
but who is also a farmer and man of the people equally at home debating the Devil, delivering
stump speeches and playing horseshoes. At heart, this movie carries a message that is as
important today as it was in 1941: our society, and humanity itself, suffers when we let
personal ambition and greed override our duties as citizens and human beings. Entertaining,
uplifting, and thought provoking, this is a movie that deserves to be rediscovered by all who
love film.

Rating: A solid 5 stars, a stone classic all the way. If you want, track down the original story
this film is based on, “All That Money Can Buy” by Stephen Vincent Benet. It’s a true classic
of the short-story form.