In
the realm of cinema, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER ($40) is a movie
with an interesting history. Released under several titles, including ALL
THAT MONEY CAN BUY, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER also suffered
a terrible fate of having been severely cut for reissue, with the
expurgated footage assumed permanently lost for decades. Back in the
1990s, The Criterion Collection released a reconstructed version of THE
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER on Laserdisc, consisting of 35mm footage of
the truncated version of the film, with unearthed 16mm materials utilized
to restore the missing portions of the film. For their 2003 release of THE
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER Criterion has restored the film to its
complete running time, utilizing 35mm materials discovered since their
Laserdisc release.
Based
upon the story by Stephen Vincent Benet, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER
tells of a poor New Hampshire farmer named Jabez Stone (James Craig),
whose continuing string of misfortune drives him to declare that he would
sell his soul to the devil for two cents. Of course, the declaration doesn’t
go unheeded, with a certain Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston) showing up with a
contact, which promises Jabez seven years of prosperity in return for his
soul. After signing away his soul, Jabez gets more than he bargained for,
becoming the richest man in the state, as well as gaining an alluring
mistress named Belle (Simone Simon), courtesy of Mr. Scratch.
Despite
the changes in Jabez, his long-suffering wife Mary (Anne Shirley) remains
at his side through the seven years, at which time, Mr. Scratch comes to
collect his contracted property. It is at this point that family friend
and statesman Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) takes up Jabez’s cause,
thus challenging Mr. Scratch’s legal claim on his soul. The performances
in THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER are absolutely first rate,
especially Walter Huston’s Devil, who proves to be charming amusing and
malevolent- all at the same time. The fine cast of THE DEVIL AND DANIEL
WEBSTER also features Jane Darwell, Gene Lockhart, John Qualen, H.B.
Warner, Frank Conlan and George Cleveland.
The
Criterion Collection has made THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER
available on DVD in a pretty good-looking black and white transfer that
frames the film in its proper 1.37:1 full screen aspect ratio. There are
some inconsistencies in the image owing to the restored sections of the
film not being as carefully preserved as the main body of the film. These
restored sections have some minor contrast problems and occasionally
appear a bit soft, but for the most part THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER
looks really quite good. The image is usually pretty crisp and sports nice
definition. Blacks are generally inky and the whites usually appear
stable. Most of the time, the grayscale appears very good and the image
produces a nice sense of dimensionality. The restored film elements
display some blemishes and scratches, as well as an occasionally
noticeable grain structure. Digital compression artifacts are never a
concern on this very smartly authored DVD. Overall, Criterion has done an
excellent job with the video transcription of the film.
THE
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER comes with a decent sounding Dolby Digital
monaural soundtrack. Considering that THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER
features Bernard Herrmann’s Academy Award winning score, I really wish
something more could be done to rejuvenate this vintage track. Since there
is a noticeable amount of hiss on the track, I would imagine the folks at
Criterion decided against any kind of digital filtering that might have
muddied Hermann’s beautiful Americana score. The eerie off kilter
quality of the "sleigh ride" music is nicely maintained,
although this soundtrack sounds nowhere as good as the digital
rerecordings of said music, which have turned up on CD over the years.
Dialogue is always intelligible, but voices lack consistency- sounding
perfectly crisp sometimes and a bit fuzzy at other times. All things
considered, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER doesn’t sound bad for a
six-decade-old movie whose sound elements weren’t carefully preserved by
a major studio. No other language tracks are encoded onto the DVD,
although English subtitles are provided.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as some nice
supplemental materials. Film historian Bruce Eder and Bernard Hermann
biographer Steven Smith are on hand for a rather informative audio
commentary track the will satiate any fan of the film looking for details
on the production. Other supplements include a comparison of THE DEVIL
AND DANIEL WEBSTER with a slightly different version of the film
entitled HERE IS A MAN. Actor Alec Baldwin is on hand to read
Stephen Vincent Benet’s original short story. The Columbia Workshop
radio dramatizations of THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER and DANIEL
WEBSTER AND THE SEA SERPENT from 1937, featuring music by Bernard
Herrmann, are also provided. Christopher Husted, an official
representative of the Bernard Herrmann estate provides an essay about the
film’s music, of which, particular cues from the score are interspersed.
A gallery of production stills closes out the supplements.
THE
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER is a wonderful piece of cinematic
storytelling punctuated by the terrific performances of Walter Huston and
Edward Arnold, as well as Bernard Herrmann’s outstanding Oscar winning
score. Criterion has done a great job of resurrecting this marvelous film
for DVD, as well as supplying a fine complement of supplements. Very
highly recommended.
In
the realm of cinema, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER ($40) is a movie
with an interesting history. Released under several titles, including ALL
THAT MONEY CAN BUY, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER also suffered
a terrible fate of having been severely cut for reissue, with the
expurgated footage assumed permanently lost for decades. Back in the
1990s, The Criterion Collection released a reconstructed version of THE
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER on Laserdisc, consisting of 35mm footage of
the truncated version of the film, with unearthed 16mm materials utilized
to restore the missing portions of the film. For their 2003 release of THE
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER Criterion has restored the film to its
complete running time, utilizing 35mm materials discovered since their
Laserdisc release.
Based
upon the story by Stephen Vincent Benet, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER
tells of a poor New Hampshire farmer named Jabez Stone (James Craig),
whose continuing string of misfortune drives him to declare that he would
sell his soul to the devil for two cents. Of course, the declaration doesn’t
go unheeded, with a certain Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston) showing up with a
contact, which promises Jabez seven years of prosperity in return for his
soul. After signing away his soul, Jabez gets more than he bargained for,
becoming the richest man in the state, as well as gaining an alluring
mistress named Belle (Simone Simon), courtesy of Mr. Scratch.
Despite
the changes in Jabez, his long-suffering wife Mary (Anne Shirley) remains
at his side through the seven years, at which time, Mr. Scratch comes to
collect his contracted property. It is at this point that family friend
and statesman Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) takes up Jabez’s cause,
thus challenging Mr. Scratch’s legal claim on his soul. The performances
in THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER are absolutely first rate,
especially Walter Huston’s Devil, who proves to be charming amusing and
malevolent- all at the same time. The fine cast of THE DEVIL AND DANIEL
WEBSTER also features Jane Darwell, Gene Lockhart, John Qualen, H.B.
Warner, Frank Conlan and George Cleveland.
The
Criterion Collection has made THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER
available on DVD in a pretty good-looking black and white transfer that
frames the film in its proper 1.37:1 full screen aspect ratio. There are
some inconsistencies in the image owing to the restored sections of the
film not being as carefully preserved as the main body of the film. These
restored sections have some minor contrast problems and occasionally
appear a bit soft, but for the most part THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER
looks really quite good. The image is usually pretty crisp and sports nice
definition. Blacks are generally inky and the whites usually appear
stable. Most of the time, the grayscale appears very good and the image
produces a nice sense of dimensionality. The restored film elements
display some blemishes and scratches, as well as an occasionally
noticeable grain structure. Digital compression artifacts are never a
concern on this very smartly authored DVD. Overall, Criterion has done an
excellent job with the video transcription of the film.
THE
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER comes with a decent sounding Dolby Digital
monaural soundtrack. Considering that THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER
features Bernard Herrmann’s Academy Award winning score, I really wish
something more could be done to rejuvenate this vintage track. Since there
is a noticeable amount of hiss on the track, I would imagine the folks at
Criterion decided against any kind of digital filtering that might have
muddied Hermann’s beautiful Americana score. The eerie off kilter
quality of the "sleigh ride" music is nicely maintained,
although this soundtrack sounds nowhere as good as the digital
rerecordings of said music, which have turned up on CD over the years.
Dialogue is always intelligible, but voices lack consistency- sounding
perfectly crisp sometimes and a bit fuzzy at other times. All things
considered, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER doesn’t sound bad for a
six-decade-old movie whose sound elements weren’t carefully preserved by
a major studio. No other language tracks are encoded onto the DVD,
although English subtitles are provided.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as some nice
supplemental materials. Film historian Bruce Eder and Bernard Hermann
biographer Steven Smith are on hand for a rather informative audio
commentary track the will satiate any fan of the film looking for details
on the production. Other supplements include a comparison of THE DEVIL
AND DANIEL WEBSTER with a slightly different version of the film
entitled HERE IS A MAN. Actor Alec Baldwin is on hand to read
Stephen Vincent Benet’s original short story. The Columbia Workshop
radio dramatizations of THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER and DANIEL
WEBSTER AND THE SEA SERPENT from 1937, featuring music by Bernard
Herrmann, are also provided. Christopher Husted, an official
representative of the Bernard Herrmann estate provides an essay about the
film’s music, of which, particular cues from the score are interspersed.
A gallery of production stills closes out the supplements.
THE
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER is a wonderful piece of cinematic
storytelling punctuated by the terrific performances of Walter Huston and
Edward Arnold, as well as Bernard Herrmann’s outstanding Oscar winning
score. Criterion has done a great job of resurrecting this marvelous film
for DVD, as well as supplying a fine complement of supplements. Very
highly recommended.