Another remarkable film from Dieterle is a folk story set in 1840s New Hampshire, where hapless farmer James Craig makes a deal with the Devil 'Mr. Scratch' - Walter Huston in mischievous form - that makes him wealthy, but at the cost of his family and friends. Upstanding local politician Webster, Edward Arnold, comes to his rescue.
Studio-bound but evocatively photographed by Joseph August, particularly in eerie scenes involving a dinner party and trial populated by the dead - memorable (Oscar-winning) Bernard Herrmann score also adds to the richness.
With Jane Darwell, Anne Shirley, Simone Simon, John Qualen, Gene Lockhart, H.B. Warner, Frank Conlan.
Story by Stephen Vincent Benet, screenplay by he and Dan Totheroh. Edited by Robert Wise. An independent RKO-William Dieterle production. It lost $53,000.
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