All That Money Can Buy

In 1840s New Hampshire the farmer Jabez Stone is buried in debt. In a moment of rage he says he would sell his soul for seven years, and Mr. Scratch appears. The bargain holds: Jabez gets rich, starts squeezing his neighbours, loses his family. When the term runs out his only hope is the region's famous orator, Daniel Webster, who takes the case and argues against the devil before a jury. The devil picks that jury too: all of them dead traitors from American history. The idea is to tie a folk tale to the country's own story. The devil here is not a roaring creature but a genial, patient creditor, and Walter Huston's reading of him carries the film. William Dieterle directed, from Stephen Vincent Benet's story. Walter Huston plays Mr. Scratch, Edward Arnold plays Webster, James Craig plays Jabez. The title has a history. RKO shied away from using the story's name, afraid audiences would avoid a period piece. It was previewed in July as Here Is a Man, released in October as All That Money Can Buy, and went by that name for many years. Bernard Herrmann won an Academy Award for the score, the only Oscar of his career. Who it is for: anyone who likes classic Hollywood fantasy and bargains with the devil. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace. The middle turns into a moral lesson and the women are written to type.