One of the best films of the 1940's. All the praise about Huston, Arnold, Herrmann's score, etc... is richly deserved... but I'd like to finally get it out there... that the STAR of the movie... the character that this film is about... is Jabez Stone... played by James Craig. He is a long forgotten actor now, but his performance is the center of the film. Why Huston and Arnold were and are still claimed as the main stars... is really beyond me....they are clearly there as Supporting Actors to the Main Character... Jabez. Had a 'major' actor in 1941 been cast.. .a Gary Cooper or Henry Fonda... they would have had top billing, and possibly nominated for the Oscar. Craig does an incredible job with this... parts of his performance toward the later half of the film.... are similar to the (still to come) work of James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life.... when both characters are desperate, caught in a nightmarish web... running from the house looking for 'Mary'. Huston deserved his nomination, but it is without a doubt a supporting role, as is Arnold's. Jabez Stone is the central character, and Craig's multi-faceted performance should have been Oscar nommed... I love the moment when, having heard his wife is pregnant... he stares out the window hypnotically, and says almost to himself... "a son, an heir, money"... a marvelous glimpse of the corruption building within... a marvelous underrated performance.
Review of The Devil and Daniel Webster
