The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

In pitting the celebrated nineteenth-century politician against the devil himself, this film reimagines the economic and legal transformations of that era through the prism of the New Deal.

Mr Scratch (Walter Huston) helps Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) on with his jacket in The Devil and Daniel Webster (RKO Radio Pictures).

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This post is part of the ‘Rewound’ series of analyses of objects or episodes from cultural and political history.

Content warning: Slavery; Ethnic cleansing of indigenous Americans; Violence against children.

Spoiler alert: This analysis of the film The Devil and Daniel Webster and its themes reveals plot details for the purpose of enhancing that analysis.