The Devil and Daniel Webster
(All That Money Can Buy)
(El hombre que vendió su alma /
A Certain Mr. Scratch / Daniel and the Devil / Mr. Scratch)
(USA, 1941) [B/N, 107 / 85 m.].
Género: Drama rural, Drama familiar, Fantástico /
Americana.
IMDb
Ficha técnica.
Dirección: William Dieterle.
Argumento: Stephen Vincent Benet (historia, "The Devil and Daniel Webster").
Guión: Stephen Vincent Benet, Dan Totheroh.
Fotografía: Joseph H. August (Joseph August) (B&W).
Música: Bernard Herrmann.
Producción: William Dieterle, Charles L. Glett.
Productora: William Dieterle Productions.
Premios:
- 1941: Oscar: Mejor bso (dramática). 2 nominaciones
: Edward Arnold (Daniel Webster), Walter Huston (Mr. Scratch), James Craig (Jabez Stone), Jane Darwell (Ma Stone), Simone Simon (Belle), Anne Shirley (Mary Stone), Gene Lockhart (Squire Slossum), John Qualen (Miser Stevens), Lindy Wade (Daniel Stone), George Cleveland (Cy Bibber), Frank Conlan (Sheriff), Eddie Dew (Farmer), William Alland (Guide), Bob Pittard (Clerk), Stewart Richards (Doctor), Harry Humphrey (Minister), Robert Strange (Clerk of Court), Sherman Sanders (Caller), Frank Austin (Spectator), Jim Toney (Another Farmer), Hazel Boyne, Carl Stockdale (Van Brooks), H.B. Warner (Justice Hawthorne), Walter S. Baldwin (Hank), Patsy Doyle (Servant), Robert Emmett Keane (Husband), Alec Craig (Eli Higgins), Sonny Bupp (Martin Van Aldrich), Robert Dudley (Lem), Fern Emmett (Wife), James Farley (Studio Gateman), Jeff Corey (Tom Sharp), Ferris Taylor (President), Anita Lee (Infant), Charles Herzinger (Old Farmhand), Sarah Edwards (Lucy Slossum).
Sinopsis: Jabez Stone es un laborioso granjero que intenta ganarse la vida honestamente. Sin embargo, una racha de mala suerte le impulsa a cometer lo inimaginable: hacer un trato con el mismísimo Demonio. A cambio de siete años de buena fortuna, Stone promete su alma al "Señor Scratch". Cuando el atribulado granjero se da cuenta de su error, busca la ayuda de un hombre que puede salvarle. El legendario orador y político Daniel Webster. (FILMAFFINITY)
AMG SYNOPSIS: This classic fantasy was based on a story by Stephen Vincent Benet. Jabez Stone (James Craig) is a simple New England farmer who has been suffering from a long run of bad luck. One day he mutters that he'd sell his soul for a little money and a decent crop. Moments later, who should appear but The Evil One himself, Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston). Scratch offers Stone seven years of wealth and good fortune in exchange for his soul; Stone, assuming it's some sort of joke, agrees. Soon Stone's fields are plentiful and money is rolling in, but his financial success comes with a price; he becomes a cold and greedy tyrant, losing the affection of his family and the respect of his peers. In time, Stone realizes that he's made a terrible mistake and that Scratch won't let him out of their deal without a fight. Desperate to regain his soul, Stone turns to the greatest legal and oratorical mind of his day, Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold), who challenges Scratch to put his contract with Stone to the test in a fair trial. While a critical success and a favorite of film buffs, The Devil and Daniel Webster fared poorly at the box office; it was eventually released under five different titles and clipped to 85 minutes in hopes of winning a larger audience, though it was restored to a 107-minute length for release on home video. -- Mark Deming
AMG REVIEW: Based upon a well-known story, The Devil and Daniel Webster has many of the makings of an excellent film, yet the end result, while quite good and worth watching, is not the special product it might have been. The biggest drawback is in its casting of the central role, which is neither the Devil nor Daniel Webster but the character Jabez Stone, whose soul is at the center of the conflict. The title characters are more memorably drawn and offer more delights, but Stone is the real center of the story, and the performance that James Craig offers is far from adequate. Craig's dramatic instincts are far too basic, giving the character an obviousness that is damaging. More problematic is that the actor cannot make the character likeable; this is admittedly a chore, given the way he is written, but it's crucial to the film's ultimate success, and Craig's failure here is a definite demerit. Fortunately, Walter Huston as Scratch and Edward Arnold as Webster are on hand to add some magic to the film, and they do far more than is required of them. Arnold, shading his basically good character with bits of pomposity, grabs hold of his big moments, delivering them both thunderously and in quite tones that create their own thunder. Even better is Huston, a dandy devil that is simply too much fun. He has so much life and fire and wit in him that it's easy to understand why people fall prey to his temptations. An added bonus is Bernard Herrmann's fascinating and perfectly-attuned score, which carries much of the storytelling on its own. -- Craig Butler
- The movie was officially nominated for Oscars under the title All That Money Can Buy. Other titles used for the film included, Mr. Scratch, Here is a Man, or Daniel and the Devil. The reason for the many different titles was so that the film would play in the American South, which was extremely socially conservative and ultra-religious. Films with the word devil in the title did not do well. Mainly, however, the name was changed so as not to be confused with The Devil and Miss Jones which was also released in 1941 and nominated for Oscars (IMDb).
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Versión Criterion MiniSD DVDRip VO (Eng+Com)+SI Gb.
Localizada en eMule / Publicada en varias páginas chinas.
:
The.Devil.and.Daniel.Webster.1941.D9.2Audio.MiniSD-TLF.mkv 
Subtítulos (descarga directa):
castellano /
inglés /
inglés HI.
(1) Subs en castellano subidos por
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(2) Subs en inglés corregidos y subidos hace tiempo.
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