You Can't Take The Devil and Daniel Webster With You

The Devil and Daniel Webster, A.K.A. All That Money can Buy (1941): starring Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Anne Shirley, James Craig, Simone Simon
Edward Arnold comes through again, this time as the legendary Daniel Webster, a lawyer and statesman who seemed more myth than man. Unfortunately, the bulk of the movie is about Jabez Stone, a simple farmer with a deep voice who likes to say "consarnit!" alot (and I do mean alot). Early in the movie, he makes a deal with the devil to become wealthy and have good fortune, and from that point on, we're shown the evils that money brings. Anne Shirley is the really beautiful actress playing his wife Mary, and Jane Darwell (Ma Joad from "the Grapes of Wrath") plays his loudly concerned mother. There's very little in the way of character development going on, outside of the typical 1940s hayseed dialogue (at one point, one of the characters cringe-inducingly says to another "that's mighty white of you"). Perhaps the only element with any sort of shocking undertone was the character "Belle" (as played by Simone Simon). As the devil's seductress, she basically kicks the wife out of the house and steals her son away. Jabez even builds a mansion just for her. Surely risque business for the 40s. It's not until the last 20 minutes that Daniel Webster and the devil actually duke it out, and it's a little anti-climactic at that. On the plus side, there's some outstanding direction and use of lense-smudging to create an eerie effect on the "jury of the damned". In spite of some corny cheesiness, it's still a worthy classic.
***1/2 out of *****

You Can't Take It With You (1938): Starring Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Edward Arnold, Ann Miller
Frank Capra uses his usual cast of players in a film about the romance between a girl from an eccentric family and a boy from a high society family. Jimmy Stewart is the boy and Edward Arnold is the father, in what is probably the best part (and character in the movie). The father is a bank president, and very powerful person. He's trying to organize a merger between several big companies, and is building a factory for this merged company. Unfortunately, there is one hold-out living on the land he wishes to build the factory, and he is refusing to sell. That hold-out just happens to be the grandfather of the girl. The grandfather presides over a house of nuts, who don't work but somehow can afford servants. They all seem to practice at artistic pursuits they're unsuited to, and therefore are very bad at. Anyway, despite the movie's dubious political message and the fact that Capra would use certain aspects of this film to greater effect in "It's A Wonderful Life", the movie is extraordinarily charming, and this is in no small part due to the wonderful performances by the cast. Which brings me back to Edward Arnold's performance. He could've been made to simply be an evil, greedy man who in the last act, sees the error of his ways. It's quite a pleasant surprise to find the character has some depth. Easy, emotional scenes could be seen as pandering to the audience, and the ending seems really abrupt, but once again, with performances this good, it's easy to overlook the sloppy bits.
**** out of *****