RKO was one of the minor Hollywood studios but it produced some inimitable gems -- Fred and Ginger, "Citizen Kane," the Val Lewton studies in horror, et al -- before it was bought by Howard Hughes and finally sank when faced with competition from television, a menace to all the old studios.
This one is pretty good. What a cast and crew, so many seasoned and reliable professionals. The two leads, James Craig as New Hampshire farmer Jabez Stone, and Anne Shirley as his supportive wife, aren't well known, but the cast also included some superb character actors, including John Qualen and Jane Darwell (both from "The Grapes of Wrath"). And behind the camera, such familiar names as Darrel Silvera, Bernard Hermann, and the splendid cinematographer Joe August who does miracles with black and white in this movie.
Stephen Vincent Benet borrowed the story from Faust. Craig is a poor farmer subject to a run of bad luck in the 1840s. The devil, Walter Huston, who is called "Scratch," offers to sell him seven years of unlimited prosperity in return for his soul and the angry and resentful Craig accepts.
Suddenly he has gold coins coming out the wazoo. He tells everyone that he's discovered a horde of lost Hessian treasure under his floorboards. He's happy as a clam, generous to his friends and family.
As the years pass, with the prompting of Huston, Craig becomes meaner, obsessed with pelf and pleasures of the flesh. He loses his devoted maid and adopts the succulent Simone Simon as, umm, as a nurse for his child and a general housekeeper who satisfies all his needs at the expense of his wife's status. Simon was the spellbound Irena in RKO's "The Cat People." If he first lent money to his hard-scrabble neighbors without interest, he now turns into a loan shark. His fields prosper while his friends' are reduced to stumps by hail. He builds a huge house and turns the farming over to others in order for him to organize fox hunts and dances.
Well -- one dance anyway, in his brand new mansion. Nobody comes except for some ghosts summoned by Simon Simone and the local loan shark, Miser Stevens, who reveals that he too sold his soul to the devil. Stevens' time happens to be up and he drops dead during a danse macabre. The ball has all the gaiety of the waltzes of the ghouls in "Carnival of Souls." When Craig's day of reckoning comes, he realizes that, though he gaineth the world, he loseth his soul and what doth is profiteth him? Scared to death, he calls on old friend and fellow farmer Daniel Webster, Edward Arnold, to contest the contract. Despite Scratch's having rigged the jury, Webster gets his client off and the contract is void. The big house is accidentally burned down, but what the hell.
Benet was a Pennsylvanian born into and educated by the military and by Yale. His poem about John Brown is harrowing. There were plenty of Civil War veterans still around in his youth and he must have identified with the Yankees because, in this fantasy, the poor New England farmer, after he becomes malignant, adopts the life style and accouterments of the pre-war Southern aristocratic planters. The big house looks like it just stepped out of "Gone With the Wind." Craig's huge farm bears a family resemblance to a plantation in Georgia. And Edward Arnold, as Webster, keeps harping on the union.
At that, if I were in the jury, I'm not sure I'd dismiss the case so readily. Arnold points out to this jury of thieves, cutthroats, and traitors, that, unlike them, poor Craig discovered his error in time. Yes, but what time? A few hours before the bill comes due. I'd settle for seven fat years if I could wiggle out of the contract at the last minute, wouldn't you? And don't say you wouldn't. If you didn't WANT the money you could give it all to Doctors Without Borders.
Some of the performances are sterling. Edward Arnold, whose forte was a crooked blow hard, does quite well as the perceptive, humane, and unpretentious Daniel Webster. And Walter Huston as Scratch is outrageously evil and funny. James Craig, in the role of pawn, looks the part but sounds actorish throughout. Anne Shirley, on the other hand, has the kind of sugary face and voice that fits the role well. Plus she looks as fresh faced and virginal as Olivia De Havilland. It would be a sin to think of her legs.
Overall, a nice piece of work. Not exactly gripping, but interesting and thoroughly watchable.
This one is pretty good. What a cast and crew, so many seasoned and reliable professionals. The two leads, James Craig as New Hampshire farmer Jabez Stone, and Anne Shirley as his supportive wife, aren't well known, but the cast also included some superb character actors, including John Qualen and Jane Darwell (both from "The Grapes of Wrath"). And behind the camera, such familiar names as Darrel Silvera, Bernard Hermann, and the splendid cinematographer Joe August who does miracles with black and white in this movie.
Stephen Vincent Benet borrowed the story from Faust. Craig is a poor farmer subject to a run of bad luck in the 1840s. The devil, Walter Huston, who is called "Scratch," offers to sell him seven years of unlimited prosperity in return for his soul and the angry and resentful Craig accepts.
Suddenly he has gold coins coming out the wazoo. He tells everyone that he's discovered a horde of lost Hessian treasure under his floorboards. He's happy as a clam, generous to his friends and family.
As the years pass, with the prompting of Huston, Craig becomes meaner, obsessed with pelf and pleasures of the flesh. He loses his devoted maid and adopts the succulent Simone Simon as, umm, as a nurse for his child and a general housekeeper who satisfies all his needs at the expense of his wife's status. Simon was the spellbound Irena in RKO's "The Cat People." If he first lent money to his hard-scrabble neighbors without interest, he now turns into a loan shark. His fields prosper while his friends' are reduced to stumps by hail. He builds a huge house and turns the farming over to others in order for him to organize fox hunts and dances.
Well -- one dance anyway, in his brand new mansion. Nobody comes except for some ghosts summoned by Simon Simone and the local loan shark, Miser Stevens, who reveals that he too sold his soul to the devil. Stevens' time happens to be up and he drops dead during a danse macabre. The ball has all the gaiety of the waltzes of the ghouls in "Carnival of Souls." When Craig's day of reckoning comes, he realizes that, though he gaineth the world, he loseth his soul and what doth is profiteth him? Scared to death, he calls on old friend and fellow farmer Daniel Webster, Edward Arnold, to contest the contract. Despite Scratch's having rigged the jury, Webster gets his client off and the contract is void. The big house is accidentally burned down, but what the hell.
Benet was a Pennsylvanian born into and educated by the military and by Yale. His poem about John Brown is harrowing. There were plenty of Civil War veterans still around in his youth and he must have identified with the Yankees because, in this fantasy, the poor New England farmer, after he becomes malignant, adopts the life style and accouterments of the pre-war Southern aristocratic planters. The big house looks like it just stepped out of "Gone With the Wind." Craig's huge farm bears a family resemblance to a plantation in Georgia. And Edward Arnold, as Webster, keeps harping on the union.
At that, if I were in the jury, I'm not sure I'd dismiss the case so readily. Arnold points out to this jury of thieves, cutthroats, and traitors, that, unlike them, poor Craig discovered his error in time. Yes, but what time? A few hours before the bill comes due. I'd settle for seven fat years if I could wiggle out of the contract at the last minute, wouldn't you? And don't say you wouldn't. If you didn't WANT the money you could give it all to Doctors Without Borders.
Some of the performances are sterling. Edward Arnold, whose forte was a crooked blow hard, does quite well as the perceptive, humane, and unpretentious Daniel Webster. And Walter Huston as Scratch is outrageously evil and funny. James Craig, in the role of pawn, looks the part but sounds actorish throughout. Anne Shirley, on the other hand, has the kind of sugary face and voice that fits the role well. Plus she looks as fresh faced and virginal as Olivia De Havilland. It would be a sin to think of her legs.
Overall, a nice piece of work. Not exactly gripping, but interesting and thoroughly watchable.