William Dieterle

All That Money Can Buy (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)

All That Money Can Buy (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)

Jabez Stone is a hardworking farmer trying to make an honest living, but a streak of bad luck tempts him to do the unthinkable: bargain with the devil himself. In exchange for seven years of good fortune, Stone promises “Mr. Scratch” his soul. But when the troubled farmer begins to realize the error of his choice, he enlists the aid of the one man who might save him: the legendary orator and politician Daniel Webster. Directed with stylish flair by William Dieterle, All That Money Can Buy brings the classic short story by Stephen Vincent Benét to life with inspired visuals, an unforgettable, Oscar-winning score by Bernard Herrmann, and a truly diabolical performance from Walter Huston as the devil.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1941
  • 106 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.37:1
  • English
  • Spine #214

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder and Steven C. Smith, biographer of composer Bernard Herrmann
  • New restoration demonstration
  • Reading by actor Alec Baldwin of the short story by Stephen Vincent Benét on which the film is based
  • Episode of the Criterion Channel series Observations on Film Art about the film’s editing
  • Comparison of the differences between the July 1941 preview version of the film, Here Is a Man, and the film’s 1943 rerelease as The Devil and Daniel Webster
  • The Columbia Workshop’s radio adaptations of Benét’s short stories “The Devil and Daniel Webster” and “Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent,” both featuring music by Herrmann
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by author Tom Piazza and a 1941 article by Benét

    Illustration by Thomas Ott

Purchase Options

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder and Steven C. Smith, biographer of composer Bernard Herrmann
  • New restoration demonstration
  • Reading by actor Alec Baldwin of the short story by Stephen Vincent Benét on which the film is based
  • Episode of the Criterion Channel series Observations on Film Art about the film’s editing
  • Comparison of the differences between the July 1941 preview version of the film, Here Is a Man, and the film’s 1943 rerelease as The Devil and Daniel Webster
  • The Columbia Workshop’s radio adaptations of Benét’s short stories “The Devil and Daniel Webster” and “Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent,” both featuring music by Herrmann
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by author Tom Piazza and a 1941 article by Benét

    Illustration by Thomas Ott
All That Money Can Buy (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
Cast
Edward Arnold
Daniel Webster
Walter Huston
Mr. Scratch
Jane Darwell
Ma Stone
Simone Simon
Belle
Gene Lockhart
Squire Slossum
John Qualen
Miser Stevens
Anne Shirley
Mary Stone
James Craig
Jabez Stone
Credits
Director
William Dieterle
Produced by
William Dieterle
Associate producer
Charles L. Glett
Screenplay by
Dan Totheroh
Screenplay by
Stephen Vincent Benét
Short story by
Stephen Vincent Benét
Music composed and conducted by
Bernard Herrmann
Director of photography
Joseph August
Art director
Van Nest Polglase
Associate art director
Al Herman
Special effects by
Vernon L. Walker
Costumes by
Edward Stevenson
Set decorations by
Darrell Silvera
Recorded by
Hugh McDowell Jr.
Recorded by
James G. Stewart
Edited by
Robert Wise
Assistant director
Argyle Nelson
Dialogue director
Peter Berneis

Current

All That Money Can Buy: The Devil Gets the Best Lines
All That Money Can Buy: The Devil Gets the Best Lines

Director William Dieterle’s 1941 film adaptation of Stephen Vincent Benét’s short story “The Devil and Daniel Webster” is a melodramatic fever dream, a hallucinatory tour de force.

By Tom Piazza

Finding Expressive Freedom in Continuity Editing
Finding Expressive Freedom in Continuity Editing

In a new episode of Observations on Film Art, scholar Jeff Smith examines how The Devil and Daniel Webster plays with the conventions of traditional Hollywood editing.