He ensnares his desperate neighbors with onerous financial contracts, slowly alienating his devoted wife, Mary, and his pious mother.

When Mr. Scratch appears to claim his due, Webster must wager his own soul before his opponent will agree to a trial by jury.

Mr. Scratch chooses the jury members from among the most notorious villains of American history, including Benedict Arnold and Stede Bonnet, with John Hathorne, one of the magistrates of the Salem witch trials as the judge.

Webster begins by stating that he envies the jury because, as Americans, they were present at the birth of a nation, but they were fooled like Jabez Stone, trapped in their desire to rebel against their fate.

Hathorne asks the jury for its verdict, and in response, the foreman tears up the contract, releasing Jabez from his deal.

After the success of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), William Dieterle founded his own production company and signed a contract with RKO Radio Pictures, the studio that had produced the film.

[2] The story had been adapted to the stage in 1939 at the Martin Beck Theater to great acclaim, but only ran for six performances because the production proved to be expensive.

In the original story, Webster regrets Benedict Arnold's absence; in the film, Arnold is present and Webster objects, citing him as a traitor and therefore not a true American, but his objection is dismissed by the judge, and Asa the Black Monk is made up[clarification needed] for the film, along with John Smeet, who appears in a deleted scene.

[3] Thomas Mitchell was the original choice to play Daniel Webster, but he suffered a skull fracture while filming the carriage scene and was replaced by Edward Arnold.

In addition to his original music score, Herrmann also incorporated several traditional folk tunes, including "Devil's Dream", "Springfield Mountain" and a diabolical version of "Pop Goes The Weasel" played on the fiddle by Mr. Scratch.

[5] It was later rereleased under the title The Devil and Daniel Webster, reducing the running time to 85 minutes with edits that were crudely done.

The film was restored to its full length in the 1990s and has been issued in that form on home video formats, and the title has remained The Devil and Daniel Webster.

A preview print titled Here Is a Man was found in the estate of the director and served as the basis for the film's restoration and DVD release.

The restoration's funding was provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation in collaboration with Janus Films, the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress.