Jabez
Stone (James Craig) is a hard-working New England farmer with an
adoring wife struggling to make an honest living. But a streak of bad
luck tempts him to bargain with Scratch (Walter Huston), aka the Devil,
and in return for seven years of good fortune, Jabez mortgages his soul.
Time passes and Jabez prospers. But days away from the deadline, after
he has gained a fortune yet lost his friends, wife and self-respect, he
repents and enlists legal counsel from the one man who might save him in
the trial for his soul: the legendary orator and politician Daniel
Webster (Edward Arnold). Despite a rigged jury, unsympathetic judge and
the wiliest of prosecutors, the Devil himself, Jabez wins and gets to
keep his soul, albeit barely. As for Scratch, he's momentarily defeated
but ever the optimist, and in the final scene, he warns us as he points a
bony finger directly at the camera that his quest foor new souls never
ends, so we'd better keep a tight hold on ours. Directed with great
flair by William Dieterle, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER brings Stephen
Vincent Benét's classic short story to life with inspired, noirish
visuals, an evocative Oscar-winning score by Bernard Herrmann, and an
indelible performance by the great Huston as the diabolical, yet
humorously impish Scratch.
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