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Credits

Rated: Unrated; Genre: Fantasy; With: Edward Arnold and Walter Huston
A+
By Steve Daly
Steve Daly
Steve Daly
Steve Daly is a senior writer at EW, and also author of EW.com's Money Shot column

THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER Walter Huston, Edward Arnold (1941, Criterion, $49.95, unrated, B&W) Long available only in a drastically cut version, director William Dieterle's brooding Faustian fable has been reconstructed for this laser edition. While 22 minutes of reinserted scenes look pretty murky (especially since the rest is astoundingly sharp), they're crucial to understanding why a none-too-bright New Hampshire farmer (James Craig) would be so easily swayed by old Scratch (Walter Huston). Most impressively, the disc's alternate-audio-track commentary turns dry historical background into crackling entertainment, giving Devil its due as one of the screen's greatest fantasies. A+ -Steve Daly


Posted Feb 07, 1992
 

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