Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Daniel Webster, played by Edward Arnold, is the real hero of this film. The historical Webster was a good politician and an even greater orator. He was famous throughout the USA for his powerful speeches delivered in a booming voice. Edward Arnold's Daniel Webster was a perfect foil for the devil in a court of law. The evil one is played by a grinning and cigar smoking Walter Huston. The action takes place in New Hampshire during the 1840's and revolves around a Yankee farmer who sells his soul for worldly possessions. This movie has a lush look to it, and its' entire cast is outstanding, including James Craig as the Yankee farmer Jabez Stone. This movie is a delicious slice of peach pie and Americana.

The movie is based on the story of the same name by Steven Vincent Benet, and while I cannot claim that it depicts New Hampshire natives properly (I wouldn't know), it does successfully show how people can be driven to deal with the Devil out of despair...and how sudden wealth can change a decent man over time.The story starts with Jabez Stone, a man who lives with his wife and mother on a small farm, and already in serious debt to local loan shark Stevens, he suffers a series of misfortunes and in desperation proclaims that he would sell his soul to the Devil for two cents...and finds himself holding two cents. Then a mischievous stranger calling himself "Scratch" comes to Jabez and talks him into signing a contract in his blood, in return for seven years of prosperity, and to begin with he is granted "Hessian gold" with which he pays off his debts. Jabez even uses his new wealth to help others...but over time, the wealth eats away at his morals, with the person of Belle arriving to help that along. Eventually Jabez talks to Daniel Webster, visiting the town, and comes to finally realize what has happened to him.The characters all act realistically, with Scratch being an impish Devil while Daniel Webster is perfectly portrayed, with Belle being beautiful but subtly menacing. As for the "jingoism" that some reviewers have complained about, the movie does not fail to mention slavery or the mistreatment of Indians.I saw the 109-minute version; the story needs that length of time.

I'm FROM New Hampshire and I could hardly understand a word the characters were saying. I know the movie is set in the mid 1840's and all, but… wow. The expressions they used and the accents the actors evoked sounded typecast-Southern to me, not like New Hampshire at all.My father loves this movie (it's of his era) so I hate to beat on it, but I didn't care that much for it. The character of Jabez could be Li'l Abner's long-lost twin brother; other reviewers have used phrases such as "impossible to care about" that detail James Craig's shortcomings very nicely. The nanny played by Simone Simon… well, let's just say I draw a line between "sexy" and "creepy" and she's WAY over on the creepy side. Jane Darwell does what she does best… nothing surprising or noteworthy there. Walter Huston put in a most effective performance as Mr. Scratch, and I liked Edward Arnold as Daniel Webster… surprised to learn in the Trivia that he was the second choice for the role; Thomas Mitchell was an excellent actor but I think Arnold did a fine job as Webster.A bit dated, inconsistent, didn't quite hit the mark with me, but it certainly had its moments. Some nice special-effects work, mostly surrounding Mr. Scratch, just enough to startle the viewer and give an other-worldly feel to the proceedings.

Shades of Citizen Kane! This little-known gem was made at RKO about the same time as Citizen Kane, and utilized the same outstanding composer, Bernard Hermann, and the same incisive editor, Robert Wise--and every so often a shadow, a rapid cut, a mood will echo the Orson Welles classic.Though not in the same league, this little-seen gem is a classic unto itself, as Webster battles the devil for a man's soul. Angelica Huston's grandfather, Walter, gives the definitive portrayal of a modern rustic Satan ("Scratch"), fiendish craftiness personified, who tempts Jabez Stone with "All That Money Can Buy" (one of the original release titles of the film). James Craig, usually wasted as a second fiddle in MGM romantic roles, here gives his definitive performance as a justifiably Jabez, a jumpy hero, and Edward Arnold, Jane Darwell and Anne Shirley are memorable in this strange early American saga, an often haunting mix of distinctive cinematography, haunting music and memorable performances.