The Devil and Daniel Webster
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The Devil and Daniel Webster is a short story by Steven Vincent Benet. It was turned into a film of the same title (also called All That Money Can Buy, A Certain Mr. Scratch, Daniel and the Devil and Here Is a Man) in 1941. Both story and film tell the story of a poor farmer who makes a deal with the Devil for better luck. When the seven years of prosperity are up, famous orator Daniel Webster comes to argue with the Devil to save the farmer's soul. The film stars Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon, Gene Lockhart and Anne Shirley.
The movie was adapted by Benet and Dan Totheroh from Benet's short story. It was directed by William Dieterle.
It won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Walter Huston).
When filming first began, Thomas Mitchell had the role of Daniel Webster, but he broke his leg and had to be replaced by Edward Arnold. Mitchell can still be seen in some scenes.
As the first segment of The Simpsons' special Halloween episode, Treehouse of Horror IV, entitled "The Devil and Homer Simpson," this story is parodied. In their version, the Devil is played by Ned Flanders, and Homer sells his soul not for better luck, but for one doughnut. Lacking an oratorical heavyweight like Daniel Webster, it is up to incompetent attorney Lionel Hutz to win Homer's freedom from Hell.