All That Money Can Buy [The Devil and Daniel Webster] **** (1941, Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell) – Classic Movie Review 10,674

‘A GREAT MOTION PICTURE DARES TO BE DIFFERENT! ‘

Director William Dieterle’s 1941 fantasy comedy drama All That Money Can Buy [The Devil and Daniel Webster] is a magical version of the Faust story relocated to 19th-century New Hampshire, and based on the story The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benet and a stage play that opened at the Martin Beck Theater on 18 May 1939 and ran for just six performances.

Walter Huston stars as Mr Scratch the Devil, who tempts the troubled, down-on-his-luck farmer Jabez Stone (James Craig) into selling his soul and signing a contract for a crock of gold in a deal for seven years of prosperity. But, when Mr Scratch comes to collect, Jabez Stone is rescued by famous lawyer Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold), a fine orator and hero of the common man, whom he enlists to extract him from his contract.

Everything is near perfect on the technical side: Dan Totheroh’s eloquent script, Dieterle’s inspired direction, Bernard Herrmann’s only Oscar-winning score, the arty back and white camerawork by Joseph August and spectacular vintage trick work by Vernon L Walker.

But, still, it is best remembered for the charismatic performances of Arnold and Oscar-nominated Huston.

It runs 112 minutes but cut versions run 107 minutes or only 85 minutes. It was restored to its full length in the 1990s.

Also in the cast are Anne Shirley, Simone Simon, Jane Darwell, Gene Lockhart, John Qualen, H B Warner, Frank Conlan, Lindy Wade, and George Cleveland.

Bernard Herrmann was also Oscar nominated for Citizen Kane (1941), Anna and the King of Siam (1946), Taxi Driver (1976) and Obsession (1976), and Golden Globe nominated for The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), but no recognition for his great scores for Hitchcock, for whom he wrote nine scores, some of his most memorable work, including Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960). 

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,674

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