Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Boring

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Having seen The Devil's Disciple on a venue that runs films which have fallen into the public domain, I wonder how anyone could have let copyright lapse on such an intriguing, yet quirky, film as this. With it's triumvirate of strong leading men, and an interesting script, this movie should be much more well known. And with it's rather oddball presentation it's surprising that it does not have cult status.The live action segments are excellent, and there is no slack in the acting or direction. However, some poor soul made the bizarre decision to interject little Rankin-Bass type puppet animation segments at nearly random moments, thoroughly negating - each time - all the dramatic momentum that has been accumulated up to that point. The animated segments are well done, and moderately amusing in and of themselves, yet completely incongruous to the tone of the surrounding film.These segments are, however, a minor flaw when compared with the greatest drawback of this movie. I am referring to the character of Judith Anderson, our hero's wife. She is, without a doubt, the most annoyingly fickle and foolish female character that I can recall having ever witnessed in any film; and very nearly the most hysterical as well. Not too far into the story I began to get the feeling that I would very much like to slap her. Halfway through the film I was consciously rooting for each of the male leads to take a turn slapping her. By the end of the film I was convinced that everyone in the film should have slapped her, and probably the crew as well! The only thing that made this character bearable was the calm, good-natured presence of Lancaster, Douglas, and Olivier.Now, this is not intended to denigrate Miss Janette Scott, who portrayed Mrs. Anderson. On the contrary, she did a remarkable job of making this over-the-top hysterical woman seem real. A lesser actress might have easily come off as overly melodramatic and phony in such an extreme performance. Her skill in the performance is the reason that we want to slap her. Kudos to Janette Scott. It is my opinion that almost everyone who watches this film will, in fact, want to slap her. Be prepared.

Despite its imposing credentials (featuring the star combo of Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier and being adapted from a George Bernard Shaw play), this film is – criminally, if you ask me – scarcely ever revived. Until now, in fact, I had to make do with a tiny reproduction of the poster from the time of its original release locally (kept by my father in a large worn-out scrapbook); for the record, the copy under review was culled from a TCM screening. Anyway, this is a comedy-adventure of the kind 'they don't make 'em like anymore' but one that, being rich in dialogue (as is to be expected of a Shaw work), comes across as atypically intelligent. The setting is the American Revolution (incidentally, the film was begun by Alexander Mackendrick – an American whose career actually took off in England!) with Lancaster a small-town preacher, Douglas a self-proclaimed "ne'er-do-well" and Olivier the General of the invading British army. Douglas, at his roguish best, and a wittily sardonic Olivier are very funny – while Lancaster's initial (albeit necessary) glumness is redeemed by a characteristic bout of acrobatics at the finale. Interestingly, he and Douglas (by the way, THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE was a co-production between their respective companies) gradually exchange identities throughout the film – with the latter passing himself off as a man of the cloth yet keeping his fervent anti-British sentiments unchecked and the minister forced by circumstances into rebellion, action and eventually negotiations with the enemy. The supporting cast, then, is headed by lovely Janette Scott (who manages to hold her own in the company of the two American stars, playing a character named Judith Anderson!) and Harry Andrews (in the role of Olivier's eager yet dim-witted aide) but also including the likes of Basil Sydney, Mervyn Johns and Allan Cuthbertson. Notable, too, are a rousing score by Richard Rodney Bennett and the novel bits of exposition (detailing the progress of General Burgoyne's ill-fated campaign) amusingly done by shifting military figurines about on a map of the area; incidentally, in the style of Lancaster's THE CRIMSON PIRATE (1952; also co-written by Roland Kibbee), we are urged to believe the events as fictionalized here rather than the way documented history presents them!

Synopis: Light hearted comic look at General Burgoyne's invasion of New York State in 1777-1778 pokes endearing fun at British and American perceptions of each other. Marching south into New York State, General John Burgoyne (Sir Laurence Olivier) is executing the evilest person he can find in every town he passes. In this manner the General expects to stifle resistance from the Devil's Disciples, Rebel irregulars impeding his path. However as this plan isn't working, the General decides to execute instead the most virtuous man he can find, Reverend Anderson (Burt Lancaster), the local minister, leaving untouched the local reprobate and likely rebel, the self-proclaimed Apostle of Satan, Dick Dungeon (Kirk Douglas) whose very mother would like to see hanged. Rescued from a cruel fate, the impeccable Reverend Anderson turns out to be the Rebel leader Burgoyne sought all along. A delightful comedy well played by the giants of the English language cinema, Lancaster-Olivier-Douglas, could have only be the product of the whimsical genius of George Bernard Shaw, the Dublin born playwright who may have known little of the Revolution but whose clever invention caught the English and American perceptions of each other, a Burgoyne imprisoned in his own insufferable, imperious, impervious arrogance fighting Americans who will use apparent sanctity as a cover for their nefarious clandestine behavior. Major Swindon: But what about history, sir? General John Burgoyne: History, sir, will tell lies, as usual!This is purely fiction you may believe every word of it. It is too bad that the celebrated playwright Shaw who died in 1950 did not live to see this production. Contrary to Shaw, there is little evidence that the British sanctioned whole scale war crimes prior to the Battle of Saratoga. Indeed, the British pardoned virtually every American civilian who requested. As fortunes of war changed, the same civilians applied for Congressional pardons, so much for the fortitude of American non-combatants or the lasting success of deluded British commanders in the war for hearts and minds. The incident described in Devil's Disciple may be a Bardic remembrance of the scalping of Jenny MacCrae, a Tory lass remade by American propaganda into a resolute Rebel and whose very name became the battle cry of Saratoga and the title of a popular American song. Throughout the 19th century the name of "Sweet Jenny MacCrae" was oft invoked by polite society in lieu of indulging in profanity. As British and American passions subsided a century and a half later when the play was written, the Jenny MacCrae incident may no longer have been politically correct. It took the genius of Shaw to hide the story in a parable which reminds both sides who they really are. George Bernard Shaw Devil's Disciple hardly ranks with the best of the Dublin born playwright George Bernard Shaw, one of the most prolific playwrights in the English language. Famous for the remark that a common language is the chasm which separates England from America, Shaw may have known little about the Revolution but knew much about the character of the peoples whose world views collided.

While I was VERY glad to see a movie involving the Colonial period in America (since so few movies talk about this), I really didn't enjoy this movie all that much--despite the time period and the great actors. And I really WANTED to like it. But, the story just seemed very childish and stupid after a while--the comedy, though originally subtle became more broad (especially the Douglas character). Now with some films, you expect a certain degree of silliness and unbelievability, but with this one it was really tough because the film itself didn't seem sure of its tone--should it be a serious melodrama or a slapstick comedy? Well, for me it just seemed muddled and a bit embarrassing to watch. Too bad, as I expected more from Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.