Devil and Daniel Webster

Pros: The whole shebang
Cons: Should be on the American Film Institute Top 100.

NOTE: The Criterion Collection DVD is available as of this writing, June 2004 and presents a wonderfully restored 106 minute version that is as faithful to Dieterle's vision as we are likely to get. Below I rave about the 84 minute hacked version. ...

Pros: Great period atmosphere, fine performances for the title characters and a fantastic score all add up to an all-time great fantasy
Cons: There are butchered versions of this floating around out there, get the Home Vision version

In this film version of the classic Steven Vincent Benet short story (which he adapted for this movie), Jabez Stone (James Craig), a 1840's New Hampshire farmer, is cursed with a run of bad luck which culminates in him losing the ability to pay Miser...

Pros: Faust Legend, Walter Huston's as the Devil, Simone Simon, Bernard Herrmann's Oscar Winning Score.
Cons: Restoration from both 16mm and 35mm elements is skillful, but some flaws are evident.

THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (Dieterle, 1941) is the finest telling of the Faust Legend in American Movies. Such entries as ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER (Mayo, 1946), MEPHISTO WALTZ (Wendkos, 1971), or even the new re-make of BEDAZZLED may come close, but they ...