Were the dinner guests really there or were they a dream? Did Daniel Webster see them?
Why did Mr. Scratch look Irish in his makeup and costume choices?
Did Mr. Stevens sell his soul also, or was he just wicked?
What exactly was Belle? She wasn't human, was she?
Thanks for any answers!
I'll take a stab at these for you.
1. The people from the other side of the mountain had already exited by the time Daniel Webster got there but I think Jabez's wife and son as well as the band saw them.
2. I didn't think of Mr. Scratch's clothes as particularly Irish just more of what he was, the trickster tricked out in bright colors to draw the unwise closer.
3. Miser Stevens sold his soul because he had some of Scratch's Hessian gold too as shown when he compared the pieces Jabez used to pay him off with the ones he had under his bed.
4. Belle was probably a succubus or minor demon of Satan's even though I thought her name was short for Beelzebub.
'Cause I'm Black you think I did it?
Thank you very much! This really helped a lot! I missed the Miser Stevens' Hessian gold coin comparison.
Appreciate it!
I thought Mr Scratch's appearance was very Irish.
shareI agree with you about all of the answers, except maybe #1. Didn't Daniel Webster say to Jabez that his party seemed to be a great success? Or do you think he was just saying that in a sarcastic way because he couldn't see them? Please reply. Thank you for your time. I almost forgot, do you have any idea what the moth was saying. I watched it with the sound all the way up but couldn't make it out.
share4. Belle was probably a succubus or minor demon of Satan's even though I thought her name was short for Beelzebub.
That party sequence was even eerier than the trial!!!
"Somewhere along the line the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."
Huston was of Irish descent so he comes by the "look" honestly. The costume seems to me to be based at least in part, on the childrens' illustrations of Howard Pyle who worked in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Here is a link to his book Pepper and Salt - scroll a little way down to see the opening illustration for the story "Jacob and the Red One" - there's another further down as well. My grandmother had the book and I adored it as a child - poured over it repeatedly. When I first saw this movie on TV 20+ years ago I made the association immediately - and just always kind of assumed it was so.
The print I first saw was very badly deteriorated - a lot of the film had a misty glare over it like in the scene when Belle is dancing with Stevens. I'm very glad it was deemed worthy of restoration as it is a masterpiece in my opinion.
I thought Scratch's hat was particularly inspired - just the faintest hint of "horns" in the brim. And he moved with such animal lightness, I always kind of imagined he had cloven hooves.
Walter Huston was a truly brilliant actor - see Dodsworth for one of the most touching performances on film.
It may have been based on Faust, but Benet and the movie has turned the story into a delicious American Tall Tale.
"And he moved with such animal lightness, I always kind of imagined he had cloven hooves"
I was sure that when he finally took off those gloves, he'd have "hands" that looked like hooves - didn't happen though, but it would have been a nice touch!
"Somewhere along the line the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."
Scratch seemed somewhat leprechaun-ish in costume but definitely of Irish, while all the other characters were WASPs. The 1840s saw a huge immigration of Irish to the US and Anglo Americans held the same prejudices against them as did the English. I have not read the story but it seems that portraying the devil as Irish-looking would have fit the times. Movies like to portray the devil in whatever stereotype stands in for evil at the time. See Al Pacino's businessman devil recently.
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