The actors: Walter Huston as the devil is one of the finest performances
I've ever seen, period, and matches or surpasses anything else Huston has
done. He has just enough lechery to make him humourous (as Mr. Scratch),
but his incredible grin and voice can make him dramatically frightening at
the crack of a whip. An amazing job; you just want to watch him once or
twice again to get all the nuances. Edward Arnold is fine as Dan'l
Webster... one forgets after all the villanous roles Frank Capra gave him
what an interesting hero he makes. When all looks black (and it does, with
the threatening clouds and the photography) for the man who sold his soul to
the devil, Arnold says "I'd fight 100 devils to save a New Hampshire man!"
in such a way as to make it sound just like he'd do it -- a real folk story
through and through.
If you get a chance to see this at a theatre or on TV, do so... It's great
fun (an excellent Halloween picture for those of us who don't do well with
blood 'n guts).
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