Beware of Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing. The Devil and Daniel Webster is directed by William Dieterle and written by Dan Totheroh and Stephen Vincent Benet. It stars Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, James Craig, Anne Shirley, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon and Gene Lockhart. Music is by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Joseph H. August. Poor farmer Jabez Stone (Craig) utters in frustration that he would sell his soul to the devil for two cents such is the destitution he and his family find themselves in. So when the mysterious Mr. Scratch (Huston) turns up with the offer of seven years prosperity, Jabez is only to happy too sign away his soul to Scratch’s contract. Prosperity does indeed come, but also a change in Craig alienates his loved ones, and just what will happen when the seven years are up? Dieterle’s Faustian movie was met with decent critical notices upon release but failed to make a hit at the box offices. It was subsequently snipped by the studio and reduced from a 107 minute movie to one that was shown in a sub-standard 85 minute cut. Suffice to say that the original cut is really the only version to see, it’s a no brainer. I’d fight 10,000 devils to save a New Hampshire man. The Devil and Daniel Webster is a film of surreal and ethereal qualities, qualities that sit snugly alongside the moral core of the tale. The story follows the familiar Faust route, man…

“Jabez” (James Craig) is at his wits end as he is faced with losing the farm he shares with his mother (Jane Darrell) and wife “Mary” (Anne Shirley). In a fit of pique, he declares that he would even sell his soul to the devil if he could keep their home. Miraculously, a dapper gent appears called “Scratch” (Walter Huston). He’s a jovial and engaging chap who suggests that there might be a way out of his predicament. He can have pretty much unlimited funds provided he signs a contract that will transfer ownership of his soul in seven years. Desperate, he agrees and for the ensuing period of feast he pays off all of his debts, manages to share some of his largesse far and wide and his wife bears a son - so all looks perfect. Then “Belle” (Simone Simon) comes onto the scene and the domestic turbulence that now occurs starts to auger badly for a farmer who now has all the trappings of wealth but who is soon going to have to deal with his fast-approaching day of reckoning. All the while, the acclaimed jurist Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) is doing the rounds and so when “Scratch” shows up for his dues, “Jabez” pleads for him to intercede and save his bacon? Thing is, with such a properly constituted and legally binding contract in his hand, can the devilish “Scratch” be thwarted? Arnold delivers adequately enough, especially towards the end when he goes into a verbally rousing over…

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