Coming Soon…
FILM CLUB wants you! After lengthy and mostly sober consideration, I’ve elected to start our experiment in internet confluence, Film Club, off with Arthur’s suggestion, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (AKA ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY), a William Dieterle classic from 1941.
Shadowplay requires that every man and woman in the land(s) shall watch along and report their findings next Monday when I blog about the movie. I’m hoping to snap the internet clean in two with the weight of insights generated.
I would be deee-lighted if those of you who haven’t seen the movie bought copies forthwith, pocket money allowing. You won’t regret it, I can guarantee that much. The movie is available from Masters of Cinema in the UK and Criterion in the US: trot along to Amazon and nab a copy now!
(For serious cheapskates, the movie is also on YouTube — but what I suggest you do is, watch the first ten minutes, realize you’re in the presence of greatness, and shell out the necessary simoleons to own your own pristine Digital Versatile Disc of said movie meisterwerk.
Following hard on the heels of CITIZEN KANE, Dieterle’s film employs some of the same German Expressionist tropes, only more German. Editor Robert Wise and compose Bernard Herrmann came fresh from KANE to this one, and I think BH’s score may be his best ever. My scratchy old vinyl recording of it attests to my love of its exuberant oomph.
Cast — Walter Huston — regular readers will know how much I deplore hyperbole, but truly, Mr. Huston is arguably the world’s greatest thing. Edward Arnold — the man has a certain way about him — when he scrunches up his face like an adorable puppy it does kind of make me want to hide behind the curtains, but he’s good. And Simone Simon, being unspeakably French. Nobody has ever been this French, honestly. She makes Maurice Chevalier look Swedish.
Story — an American retelling of Faust. But not like THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE, I promise.
Look –
OK, so it’s not a great trailer. The film died. Like a dog. I think people are put off by that kind of “a story so captivating in its winsome uniqueness –” baloney. What we’re talking about is a gripping slice of Cinema Fantastique. You will thrill.
So, a week from now?
July 27, 2009 at 2:39 am
I’ve been meaning to watch this for a long time; you’ve convinced me to make my best effort to find time to join in!
July 27, 2009 at 2:48 am
Oh you had to pick this one. Only one of my favorite movies of all time. By a director who deserves more love. And featuring a great performance by a major actor. And so beautiful it almost hurts to look at it. And … wait, I am starting early. Okay, I will be there. I don’t have to see it again, I think–saw it again just a couple of months ago.
July 27, 2009 at 3:32 am
I watched this not quite a year ago..I’ll draw from memory
July 27, 2009 at 4:03 am
A wonderful film, a truly American film if you know what I mean. I’m reminded of CITIZEN KANE in some respects, which is another film that didn’t do too well monetarily at its onset, correct me if I’m mistaken. And Simone Simon as the Devil’s minion, her dance with Qualen is wonderful, unforgettable. I’ll hold back on the rest until a week from now.
July 27, 2009 at 4:41 am
Waah, I had this recorded from TCM a few months ago and erased it unwatched. I have to get over this notion that I get extra credit for keeping my tivo tidy.
July 27, 2009 at 5:41 am
I was finding it hard to hold back on Simone Simon’s performance myself…
July 27, 2009 at 9:10 am
If they ever do a remake of The Devil and Daniel Webster, Tom Waits would make a great Mr.Scratch.
July 27, 2009 at 9:40 am
They DID do a remake, with Alec Baldwin. They never think these things through! Tom Waits is always good value.
As for SS, we’re all going to have trouble holding back, let’s just not think about her.
Hmm, that’s not working…
Katya, now you have to buy a copy! Don’t worry, it’s on sale, and anyway, one could quite easily rank this in a top ten of American (very American, as Guys says) films, an alternative canon if you will.
July 27, 2009 at 10:53 am
Dieterle also made “I’ll be Seeing You”. The song is one of my favourites. I love Sinatra’s version.
July 27, 2009 at 11:18 am
Yes, I quite fancy seeing that one. There’s an OTT emotionalism to Dieterle that comes out in his romantic stuff.
July 27, 2009 at 11:53 am
They did a remake starring and DIRECTED by Alec Baldwin, back in 2001 (or is it 2002?). With Jennifer Love Hewitt as The Devil, her fans are irate that this hasn’t yet been released on DVD. I have a feeling the rest of us have reason to be grateful (oh, and with Anthony Hopkins as Daniel Webster!).
July 27, 2009 at 12:02 pm
And a heads-up to those who say they can’t afford it: Barnes & Noble has a half off sale currently in effect that applies to all Criterion DVDs, that means ALL of them, singles, doubles, box sets, the lot. This is something B&N never does, I say get ‘em while they’re hot. I’ve already gone a little crazy picking up stuff that I otherwise wouldn’t have because of cost. The sale is in effect until the beginning of August, plenty of time to act.
July 27, 2009 at 2:24 pm
a wonderful choice–everyone should see this film (along with the entire Dieterle oeuvre)
the story’s pretty good too–much better than Stephen Vincent Benet’s other excursion into Websterabilia–”Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent”
I would have rushed to the theatre for that one too though–if Huston could have been prevailed upon to play the serpent
Dave
July 27, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Thomas Mitchell was originally cast as Daniel Webster, but he suffered a brain concussion when he fell off a horse, and was replaced by Edward Arnold. Incidentally, this trailer pretends that Jane Darwell is the femme lead in this picture (!), leaving Simone SImon’s participation as a surprise.
July 27, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Dieterle “samples” Murnau’s Faust — in which he appeared in a featured role.
July 27, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Dieterle was a great friend of Thomas Mann and was going to direct one of his major novels in the late 40s but the project fell through. Perhaps the film failed because audiences did not like to think of the Devil being American or that evil was home-grown as in that “jury of the damned scene” that pre-dated THE OMEN trilogy.
July 27, 2009 at 7:07 pm
The Thomas Mitchell anecdote fascinates me — I like Mitchell better as an actor (Arnold is v good though).
I equate the film’s failure with that of Red Badge of Courage, where the publicity tried to sell it as “quality” and literary and good for you, instead of as an exciting drama. Plus I think Americans don’t like films about their own history (except westerns), having had enough of that at school.
July 27, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Martin Scorsese did a piece on this film for DIRECTV this month…
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/article.jsp?assetId=P6030052
He compares the quality of the film has being evocative of 19th Century New England American Lit of Hawthorne and Poe and citing it as a cousin to the style of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and CARNIVAL OF SOULS.
I feel that the film didn’t succeed because it didn’t have good publicity…a real trailer ought to have used the barn scene with the violins to sell it, it’ so sudden and creepy and Walter Huston is scary in that film. What makes the film unique must be the mix of humour and horror. Walter Huston is genuinely scary as the Devil but he’s also fun to watch and he has the best lines. “I don’t like to boast of it, but truth be told, Mr. Webster, my name is older in this land than yours.”
July 27, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Nice pointer to that B&N Criterion sale! I ordered a batch, including The Devil and Daniel Webster.
July 27, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I think we can have some interesting discussions around the film’s politics too. The Carnival of Souls connection is very striking in the scene where John Qualen’s debt is collected, one of the movie’s highest points.
July 27, 2009 at 8:44 pm
re: politics–yes indeed!
One of the most amazing bits of sleight of hand achieved by the story/film (and here Benet and Dieterle were in perfect sync) is realigning the historical Webster (who, as one of the staunchest of the “Cotton Whigs,” invariably stood for the interests of the Miser Stevenses of the mid-19th century North) with late-1930s Popular Frontism!
Dave
July 27, 2009 at 8:53 pm
A lot of the history of it I’m pig-ignorant of, but I can see the left-wing aspects of the film clearly, even in the credits.
I do recall hearing that Emerson was disappointed in Webster for being pro-slavery!
July 27, 2009 at 9:26 pm
yes–when I first began digging into 19th century American history (several years after I was first dazzled by this film as a kid) in a serious academic way, I was shocked to learn that Webster didn’t give a damn about the oppressed… he represented the extreme anti-popular wing of the Whig party (which did have some antislavery people in it–often referred to as “Conscience Whigs,” to distinguish them from the Websterian faction)… he was the rich merchant’s candidate of choice
Unquestionably the finest orator of the 19th century (by all accounts), Webster did a real number on Emerson’s fireworks-loving brain, causing him to make statements like “The Democrats have the best cause, but the Whigs have the best men”… (actually, I don’t see much that was good in any of them)
in his thirst for a solid presidential nomination (which required broad-based national support), Webster finally destroyed his rep in New England by going against the rising tide of anti-slavery opinion in that section, making the infamous Seventh of March speech (anathematized by the poet John Green Whittier’s “Ichabod”)
you get the sense that the film is saying that the Devil made all of this happen (“you’ll never be President, Mr. Webster”)–and that a non-cursed Webster would, of course, have done all of the things that the most extreme New Dealers wanted to do… it’s wonderful… can’t wait to read the discussion, and to watch the film again nyself!
July 27, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Fantastic background material, I’ll be sure to plagiarize hell out of it! Thanks!
July 27, 2009 at 9:57 pm
oh my pleasure!
July 28, 2009 at 1:12 am
I believe Tom Waits IS playing a version of Mr. Scratch (“Mr. Nick”) in Gilliam’s Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.
July 28, 2009 at 10:37 am
The ‘dance of death’ scene in THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER is very powerful. I think that one of the main reasons why the film is so compelling is the folk-tale element, which is something that taps into our primal consciousness.
July 28, 2009 at 11:19 am
There’s something nice — and oddly believable — about the combination of folk tale and history. Put Mr Scratch in the contemporary world and he’d seem more whimsical, but he has a “reality” comparable to that of Webster in the film.
Can’t wait to see the Gilliam.
July 28, 2009 at 3:23 pm
re: the history–one of the most interesting aspects of that is the makeup of the jury, which is altered from the story. Good topic for Monday. :D
July 28, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I wonder if I have time to get the story — not so commonly read over here — before Monday? Off to the library!
July 28, 2009 at 4:04 pm
you can also read it here:
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602901.txt
July 28, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Brilliant! I shall do so.