Entertainment Binge

By Isaac White.

This week I will not tell a tale of father and son. Nor will I regale you with tales of past sorrows and regrets. You will not be put upon with an elegy. It is my sincerest effort to just have some fun this week, even if the movie I want to talk about isn’t outright funny.

My taste in film is quite varied. I think by now you’ve all recognized that is the case and though I know we all like to think we’re quite special because of our varied preferences (I’m including myself here, I’m not letting myself off the hook) in movies, music, books, etc. I’m not saying you’re not unique. I’m just saying that I believe people may outwardly show their preference for certain types of genres.

Men want to show their masculinity, so they hide their enjoyment for rom-coms. I don’t hide my love for a good rom-com by the way. I should write something about my favorite ones. There are quite a few, I really enjoy rom-coms.

One of the things I’ve noticed since I was a kid is that there are a lot of people born in the 70’s and beyond who seem to have a strong distaste for “old” movies. While I don’t agree with their take, I think I can understand it. The style of film is quite different in the 40s than the tense hectic pace of 70s movies. The wonderment of new special effects of the 80s. Screwball comedies of the 90s. We can continue but you get my drift.

And film now is a different experience for people under 30. The way movies look and are shot now, the themes, and the acting itself, are all starkly different from movies from 70 -80 years ago. It makes sense, things that don’t evolve go extinct. In this day and age, it seems as though attention spans are so short that you must evolve what seems like yearly, or you risk losing complete relevance.

My point is that the evolution of pop culture has gone in such a way that the movies from the Golden Age of film don’t seem to get the attention of younger people in a way they deserve. I understand that stylistically we’re comparing apples and oranges for the most part. As I mentioned earlier, even the acting is different.

People spoke differently. Accents in film were different than what we hear today. You know the old James Cagney-type 1930s gangster voice? Well, that’s who I imagine when I randomly say in public in that old-timey voice, “You’ll never take me alive, see.” This doesn’t work as well in print; I’m just realizing it now. But trust me, it’s funny, just laugh.

I think about those things when considering why older movies may be overlooked and why I’m talking about a classic this week. I treasure old films. Of course, it depends on the movie itself and whether or not it’s any good, but I don’t walk away from a film simply because it is a black and white oldy but goody. It’s probably because my mom used to watch whatever golden age movie was being caught by the rabbit ears back in the day. Something was entrancing about those movies.

So, I have a movie I want to tell you about. A film that I think is awesome and you should watch if you get a chance. The Devil And Daniel Webster is a 1941 film directed William Dieterle. The original title was All That Money Can Buy and from what I can piece together, the title was changed following an original release that was critically loved but lost money at the box office.

The film was re-released as a shorter version with the title, The Devil And Daniel Webster. I must also mention that the movie is based on a short story by Steven Vincent Benet. I guess that they also changed the name to be more faithful to the story, which is titled…I’m not gonna say it, you already know. Full disclosure, I have not read the story, I’ve only seen the movie. But the film is enough for me I believe.

This film is a morality tale and quite a good one at that. Jabez Stone (James Craig) is a down-on-his-luck New Hampshire farmer who desperately needs a break in life. Times are tough on the farm, but Jabez has a wife Mary (Anne Shirley) and mother, Ma Stone (Jane Darwell) who support him and who seem happy with the modest life they have.

Of course, Jabez has bigger dreams. He feels like a failure because he can’t provide his wife and mother with all life’s fineries. As a husband and father, I know that feeling. You work hard and despite all your efforts, you can never quite seem to reach the heights of success you should. So, this movie is quite relatable today.

I must relay to you that the film is set in the 1840s. The short story was written during the great depression. So, the story was not one unknown to many back in the 30s. In 1941, the U.S. was newly out of the depression and the bad memories of such desperation and destitution were fresh in the minds of those consuming the film.

I’m assuming anyway, I wasn’t due for another 40 years to share my awesomeness with the world when I was born. Yes? Maybe? No? Yeah, probably no, but I’m not going to stop trying to convince you that I should be memorialized as a luminary in the existence of mankind. I’ll stop now, but I must admit I think it’s funny when I try to convince myself that it’s a good idea to try and persuade YOU that I’m great. It may come off weird, but it really is a joke.

So Jabez is having a tough time. He owes money to a man that appears to be a loan shark of sorts. Or something akin to a loan shark. If he can’t pay back the loan, he risks losing his farm to this man. Jabez at one point says he would sell his soul to the devil in return for money. Two cents I believe, but he gets a lot more than that.

Following Jabez’ utterance, we see Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston) appear. Mr. Scratch (The Devil) offers Jabez the deal he was looking for. If Jabez sells his soul to Mr. Scratch, the Devil will solve all of Jabez’ financial woes. In all honesty, it didn’t seem to take Jabez very long to take the deal. Personally, I don’t believe in the devil, but if I did and he just showed up like that, I don’t think I’d jump into ANY sort of agreement with him after 30 seconds of consideration.

Jabez signs the contract and is rewarded with gold doubloons of Hessian origin in heaps. He pays off his debts, grows his farm, and helps his fellow farmers who have fallen on hard times. He loans out seeds just to help. Jabez is a good man. For now.

Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) is an attorney and apparent presidential candidate. He is an amazing orator and travels around the U.S. speaking up for the little guy. He’s a populist really and not the ugly kind of populist that spreads hate. He embraces a leg up for all, fair play and the like.

Scratch has been trying to get to Mr. Webster for quite a while. We see it early in the film when Scratch is whispering in Daniel’s ear. It’s hard not to assume Scratch is up to no good. And he’s not. He’s the Devil right? But Mr. Webster is a man of unimpeachable moral character. Something I truly enjoyed watching.

So, we see Scratch be able to capture Jabez, while Mr. Webster abstains from taking the easy way out. I never looked down on Jabez for doing what he did. I think it wasn’t the brightest thing to do but I understood his motivations. Mr. Webster, however, is a hero in my eyes.

As Jabez’ wealth grows so does his callousness and greed. He loans money to his fellow farmers at outrageous terms, ones that they most likely cannot meet. They will lose their farms to Jabez. He’s become a monster you see, and his friend Mr. Webster must help him out. Yes, Daniel and Jabez know each other. Mr. Webster witnessed Jabez deliver an impassioned and heartfelt speech to his fellow farmers one day. Daniel saw goodness there so he and Jabez became friendly.

Jabez knows he’s out of control. He wants to terminate his deal with Mr. Scratch. Mr. Webster is vital to his redemption. I’m not going to tell you anymore because the conclusion of the film is so brilliant that I can’t allow myself give everything away. Quite frankly if I’ve done my job, I should have been persuasive enough for you to at least give the film a chance.

It’s quite relevant today. We may not be in a Great Depression, but we are in dire financial straits. Wealth inequality is out of control. People in their 40s have a hard time buying homes. If you’re under 40, you might as well forget about it for the most part. People work full-time and need food stamps, live in their cars, or need three jobs just to get by.

That’s certainly something that drew me into this film entirely. The themes are as pertinent today as they were then. I also want to say that Walter Huston in this film puts in a performance that is going on my all-time list. I was blown away.

I must admit I’ve not seen Walter Huston all that much. That I can remember, anyway. But I tell you this…I have already begun to put a list of his movies together that I will watch. He’s that good. The movie is that good. So go watch it. Please and thank you. Just give it a chance, you’ll like it.

Don’t make any deals you may come to regret. Just kidding. But don’t do it.

Thanks for reading and until next week…