IMDb RATING
5.4/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
A down-and-out writer sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for fame and fortune.A down-and-out writer sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for fame and fortune.A down-and-out writer sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for fame and fortune.
Calvert DeForest
- Bailiff
- (as Calvert De Forest)
Ranardo Domeico Grays
- Photographer's Assistant
- (as Renardo-Doemeico Grays)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Alec Baldwin (Jabez Stone), this movie was extensively re-edited after it came into the possession of Bob Yari Productions, and no longer bears any resemblance to its original form or to the Benet short story, hence the title change. Baldwin has since requested that his name be removed from the credits as director and producer.
- GoofsWhile showing Jabez his new apartment, the Realtor says Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas" there. In fact, the song was written while sitting at the pool at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona in 1940.
- Quotes
Aging Writer: Ah, the great Daniel Webster!
Daniel Webster: The drunk Mr. Hardy.
Aging Writer: Better drunk than a whore, I always say.
Daniel Webster: Better neither than both.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies That Faced MAJOR Delays (2018)
- SoundtracksAre You There, Margaret? It's Me God
Written and Performed by The Baldwin Brothers
Courtesy of TVT Records
Featured review
Smarmy, tasteless, trendily cynical rewrite of "The Devil and Daniel Webster"
Struggling novelist, unable to get anything published much less an actual audience to read his work, enters into a pact with a comely female Satan: fame and fortune in exchange for his immortal soul. Archibald Macleish's play "Scratch" becomes an updating of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (filmed in 1941, with a panicked farmer as the tempted central figure); producer-director Alec Baldwin portrays the leading character opposite a terrific supporting cast, including Anthony Hopkins as lawyer Daniel Webster and Jennifer Love Hewitt as the Devil. Unfortunately, the movie was edited against Baldwin's wishes after sitting on the shelf for years, debuting on the Starz television network in 2007 after some brief theatrical bookings. It begins well but quickly loses its footing once Baldwin's writer gains the success he so desired, turning the picture into a yuppie treatise on the old money-can't-buy-happiness ploy. The filmmakers are so out-of-touch, they don't even consider the fact that maybe some of the writer's needs ARE fulfilled by his newfound celebrity. Instead, he turns into a sad sack with money in the bank and women at his feet--clearly not something struggling writers in real-life can identify with. Worse, there's never a moment when this man's heart is actually detectable; Baldwin is so callow an actor (not to mention as the director) that all we perceive are his handsome, unmodulated externals. He purses his lips and gazes intently at the camera, hoping to smolder, while viewers lose track of the character's roots. The final courtroom battle is well-played, though so much of the writing is smarmy, and executed without style, that the overall results are distinctly unsatisfactory. *1/2 from ****
helpful•147
- moonspinner55
- Jul 21, 2010
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- The Devil
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $35,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $686,846
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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