Tweet The Devil and Daniel Webster

I'm in the middle of watching Criterion's release of The Devil and Daniel Webster and I'm experiencing a mix of hypnotic intrigue and fascination. Wow, this is an amazing film. Are any of William Dieterle's other films this fascinating?

[Mike Gebert]

So amazing, you stopped to post in the middle of it?

Anyway, try Portrait of Jennie next, and watch TCM for a showing of The Last Flight.

And do not miss "Fog Over Frisco."

More controversial, but IMHO stunning, is "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Max Reinhardt is credited as principal director, but whatever directing he did was in one-on-one consultation with Dieterle, who staged the film.

David Shepard

There is the ever popular The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) with Charles Laughton's brilliant performance. I believe it's the best adaptation. My love for The Devil and Daniel Webster, however, is due in no small part to Bernard Hermann's Oscar-winning musical score, which ironically is his most underrated. Dieterle was well acquainted with Faustian allegory; he had a part in Murnau's Faust (1926).

By all means watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame; very atmospheric, inventive direction by Dieterle and a magnificent performance by Laughton. The presence of a young Maureen O'Hara doesn't hurt either.

You should also catch Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940) with Edward G. Robinson, one of the better examples of the biopics of the era.

And I wonder what's keeping a Warner Archive release of Her Majesty, Love (1931), W.C. Fields' first talkie feature and Dieterle's second American film. No, this remake of a German comedy is not a masterpiece, but has several points of interest - not least the cast which includes veteran comics Leon Erroll, Ford Sterling and Chester Conklin.

Perhaps moreso than Dieterle, the credit of the visual spark of DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER should go to DP Joseph August, and Darrell Silvera, who was head of the art department at RKO and oversaw the visual end of things.

I always seem to get the work of August confused with that of Joseph Walker (and not because they both had the same first name.....or maybe partly because of that). They both seem to have an infinity for back lighting with almost a halo effect on the actors. Capra liked that look for many of his films from the Thirties. As did Ford with his more moody works of the time. And since Dieterle learned his craft from the school of German Expressionism it was only natural that he would be drawn to talent like Joe August.

SYNCOPATION ('42), the film that Dieterle made right after WEBSTER, is unusual and interesting.