The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
What a sweet piece of work. Really good dialogue, and many well written and acted parts besides the obvious titular characters. Miser Stevens and Stone's mother were very good, and especially Simone Simon as the demon nursemaid/mistress.
Three emotional qualities really stand out to me:
Funny: Walter Huston as ol' Mr. Scratch was SO good. Very funny, cynical wit. Lots of little things that stand out from him, all the odd places he turns up. He's everywhere, leading the band at the parade for Dan'l, in Washington whispering in the senator's ear, playing a mean fiddle at the barn dance. His insults to Jabez Stone were priceless. The bit at the end of him ravenously devouring this huge pie was a really funny demonstration of his greed, and the final moments of examining his book for the next target are priceless.
Creepy: Between all the funny stuff were the implications of hell and damnation, but especially terror and hopelessness (Stone and Miser Stevens). The visitors at Stone's new mansion really creeped me out good. Also creepy was the infamous scene where Miser Stevens recently harvested soul comes flying out of Scratch's jacket pocket screaming for help. This also counts as funny, at least when my five year old nephew and I went around effecting high-pitched squeals begging "Help me Neighbor Stone."
Sexy: Belle, the French demon/nanny/whore that Scratch sent Jabez was hotter with her clothes on and no direct sexual behavior than the hookers making out in the elevator to entertain Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate. Note the exact tone and body language of her mocking rebuff to Stone at the barn dance saying "Oh, NO Mr. Stone- your place is with your WIFE."
The hottest thing in the movie (and one of the creepiest things) is the scene where she is singing some evil otherworldly lullaby to Stone's infant son. Rewind and watch it closely a couple of times. What was she singing?
Surely this is one of the greatest forgotten movies of the era. This should be making some of those AFI top 100 list thingeys.
To Al's More Things Log [updated frequently]
Link Soup
morethings
master photo gallery index little
richard photos buddy
holly pictures fats
domino images chuck
berry pictures 01/
02/ 03/
04/ 05/
06/ 07/
08/ 09/
10/ 11/
12/ 01/02/
03/ 04/
05/ 06/
07/ 08/
09/ 10/
11/ 12
01/ 02/
03/ 04/
05/ 06/
07/ 08/
09/ 10/
11/ 12/01/
02/ 03/
04/ 05/
06/ 07/
08/ 09/
10/ 11/
12/08/
09/ 10/
11/ 12/
lucille ball
images james
blunt photos clint
eastwood pictures lena
horne images bruce
springsteen pictures mariah
carey pictures sissy
spacek pictures tanya
tucker images loretta
lynn pictures beatles
pictures white
stripes pictures andy
griffith pictures kill
bill pictures parliament
funkadelic p-funk pictures beverly
hillbillies pictures john
mellencamp photos frank
zappa pictures jerry
lee lewis pictures richard
pryor photos june
carter johnny cash pictures vic
mackey shield pictures macy
gray pictures elvis
presley pictures paul
simon photos dolly
parton pictures devil
whores pictures tori
amos pictures joaquin
phoenix images kate winslet
images peter
lorre images reese
witherspoon pictures flaming
lips images rolling
stones photos fiona
apple images elvis
costello images ray
charles photos prince
rogers nelson pictures blazing
saddles images sinead
o'connor images eddie
murphy photos kd
lang images south
park pictures bob
dylan pictures elizabeth
taylor photos saturday
night live pictures hee
haw pictures james
brown images tina
turner pictures dixie
chicks photos