New York in 1777 is a key battleground, as General John Burgoyne's (Laurence Olivier) British army marches on Albany. Reverend Anthony Anderson (Burt Lancaster) is a small-town priest who draws British ire for demanding burial of a hanged Revolutionary. When troublemaker Dick Dudgeon (Kirk Douglas) cuts down the cropse, it's blamed on Anderson. Karma comes around, however, as Dudgeon is mistaken for Anderson and sentenced to hang. Burgoyne takes a few moments out from his disastrous Saratoga campaign to settle the matter.
Like most of Shaw's works, The Devil's Disciple is steeped in irony. The movie takes a roughly pacifist view of the conflict, with Burgoyne mouthing barbed criticisms of British incompetence and American impertinence. Anderson's uprightness contrasts with the amoral Dudgeon, who claims to have sold his soul to the Devil. But it's Dudgeon who makes the heroic sacrifice, albeit for the sake of Anderson's wife (Janette Scott). Anderson undergoes a similar conversion from pacifism to patriotism. He comically emerges from a battle dressed in buck skin, reborn as a frontier hero. It plays like Friendly Persuasion meets A Tale of Two Cities, played for laughs.
Guy Hamilton provides a crisp pace in spite of the story's inherent talkiness. The black-and-white is a bit stifling, lacking the radiant Technicolor of The Scarlet Coat or even John Paul Jones. Hamilton stages a hilarious swordfight/battle scene with aplomb, and cleverly employs a paper cut-out animation to provide expostion (presaging The Charge of the Light Brigade?).
Burt Lancaster plays the sort of stiff-necked protagonist he's ill-suited for: fortunately he becomes a "man of action" in later reels. Kirk Douglas makes a wonderfully lovable scamp, though his sacrifice seems abrupt, if not out of character. Laurence Olivier makes an ideal vessel for Shaw's cutting wit. Janette Scott makes little impression as Anderson's weepy wife. Lots of interesting faces populate the supporting cast: Harry Andrews, Alan Cuthbertson, Percy Herbert, George Cole.
The Devil's Disicple is an interesting film if not an all-time classic. Hope you enjoy the holiday more than Dick Dudgeon.
PS: TCM ran this film right after a charmingly quaint 1938 short entitled Declaration of Independence. It's worth checking out, if only to see Caesar Rodney depicted as a two-fisted action hero!
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