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Why would someone who has thoroughly enjoyed movies such as "Judge Dredd" and "Wild at Heart" consider this to be "my favorite movie"?

One word - "fantasy". It's my favorite movie category, and this is the best one that I've ever seen. The 1940s was the decade in which horror melodramas and fantasies really began to ramp up, and this movie helped to set the standard. Stephen Vincent Benet's story is a bit changed, but not enough to diminish this American Gothic tale.

Aside from being superior entertainment, the movie simply has no weaknesses. Where to start? The casting and acting are extraordinary. Though both are most often remembered for other movies, Edward Arnold and Walter Huston turn in their best performances here. Simone Simon (known today for the "Cat People" movies) is exceptional as Belle. Anne Shirley, James Craig, and the stellar supporting cast are also great.

This is Bernard Herrmann's best film score. William Dieterle's direction is quirky and involving, propelling the film along at a fast clip. Admittably, the characters are caricatures, but Dieterle helps us to feel their trials and tribulations. The movie also features brilliant cinematography, exceptional production values, and truly superior editing (this was an early job for director Robert Wise). The scenes are quite stagey, but never disjointed - the logic of the story is unmistakable and riveting.

Huston is the ultimate "Mr. Scratch". I've seen this show many times, and it's a 10/10.

What a sweet piece of work. Really good dialogue, and many well written and acted parts besides the obvious titular characters. Miser Stevens and Stone's mother were very good, and especially Simone Simon as the nursemaid/mistress. Three emotional qualities really stand out to me:

Funny: Huston as ol' Mr. Scratch was SO good. Very funny, cynical wit. Lots of little things that stand out from him, all the odd places he turns up. He's everywhere, leading the band at the parade for Dan'l, in Washington whispering in the senator's ear, playing a mean fiddle at the barn dance. His insults to Jabez Stone were priceless. The bit at the end of him ravenously devouring this huge pie was a really funny demonstration of his greed, and the final moments of examining his book for the next target are priceless.

Creepy: Between all the funny stuff were the implications of hell and damnation, but especially terror and hopelessness (Stone and Miser Stevens). The visitors at Stone's new mansion really creeped me out good. Also creepy was the infamous scene where Miser Stevens recently harvested soul comes flying out of Scratch's jacket pocket screaming for help. This also counts as funny, at least when my five year old nephew and I go around effecting high-pitched squeals begging "Help me Neighbor Stone."

Sexy: Belle, the French nanny/whore that Scratch sent Jabez was hotter with her clothes on and no direct sexual behavior than the hookers making out in the elevator to entertain Al Pacino in "The Devil's Advocate." Note the exact tone and body language of her mocking rebuff to Stone at the barn dance saying "Oh, NO Mr. Stone- your place is with your WIFE."

The hottest thing in the movie (and one of the creepiest things) is the scene where she is singing some evil otherworldly lullaby to Stone's infant son. Rewind and watch it closely a couple of times. What was she singing?

Surely this is one of the greatest forgotten movies of the era. This should be making some of those AFI top 100 list thingeys.

In 1840 in New Hampshire, the unfortunate farmer Jabez Stone (James Craig) is a poor but good man that lives a simple and hard life with his beloved wife Mary Stone (Anne Shirley) and his mother "Ma" (Jane Darwell). One day of bad luck, Jabez curses and tells that he would sell his soul to the devil to have a better life; immediately after the devil appears posing of a man named Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston). He offers seven years of good fortune and money to Jabez for his soul and the farmer signs the contract. Soon Jabez improves his life and after a hailstorm, his crop are the only one not damaged. Jabez borrows money to his neighbors and soon Mary gets pregnant. When she delivers the baby Daniel, she asks her prominent friend Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) to be his godfather. Meanwhile Jabez is charmed by the gorgeous Belle (Simone Simon) and he hires her as a maid and soon she becomes his mistress. Jabez does not know that Belle was sent by Mr. Scratch and soon he becomes an evil man. After seven years, Mr. Scratch returns to collect his soul and offers an addition period for the soul of his sin. Jabez realizes that he is doomed but Daniel Webster offers to defend him in a trial. What will happen to Jabez and his family?

"The Devil & Daniel Webster", a.k.a. "All That Money Can Buy", retells the timeless German classic story of Faust, a man that sells his soul to Mephistopheles. The film has not aged after more than seventy years. The dance of Belle with her guests is eerie and seems to be the source of inspiration of the dance in "Carnival of Souls". Walter Huston and Edward Arnold have great performances in the roles of Mr. Scratch and Edward Arnold respectively. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not available on Blu-Ray or DVD

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.

Terrific film, Walter Huston as the devil duking it out with Edward Arnold, in a rare sympathetic role as Daniel Webster(usually he played parts like the nasty Tycoon in You Can't Take it With You)over a simple farmer's soul. The jury-if memory serves me right, people like Benedict Arnold and Blackbeard, his 'peers'...Dieterle takes the old Faust tale and puts a uniquely American spin into it(though he was German-you'll see what I mean if you watch it..)-this is a moving, wonderfully shot, eerie film; definately a go-see! Under-rated, not often mentioned as being on of the best films from the '40s, though it most assuredly is.

**** stars outta ****, do see it.