Hollywood Career: 1940s
During the 1940s, Dieterle works were infused with more lush, romantic expression. Many critics see the films of this period as some of his best works, although at the time many felt that his career had "reached it peak in the 30s, afterwards descending into routine, facile melodramas." David Thomson has written that the bio-pics of the 30s are "ponderous, Germanic works, suffering from staginess and the unrestrained histrionics of Paul Muni", while his later works "reveal a previously submerged talent for the lavish romantic."
The Devil and Daniel Webster (also known as All That Money Can Buy, 1941) is a gothic fantasy and loose adaptation of the Faust legend set in 1840s New Hampshire. Starring Walter Huston and Edward Arnold as the titular Prince of Darkness and early Congressman who battle over the soul of Jabez Stone after an ill-conceived deal with the devil. Although unsuccessful upon its initial release, it is today a classic with Noirish cinematography by Joe August, Oscar winning score by Bernard Herrmann and still impressive special effects. It has recently (and notoriously) been remade by Alec Baldwin.
After another bio-pic about Andrew Johnson called Tennessee Johnson starring Van Heflin and Lionel Barrymore and a remake of Kismet (1944) with Ronald Colman and Marlene Dietrich, Dieterle made Love Letters in 1945. The films improbably plot stars Joseph Cotten as a soldier who writes love letters on behalf of a friend during World War II. Jennifer Jones stars as the recipient of the letters who falls in love with the writer. Years after the war, Cotten tracks down Jones only to find that she has lost her memory and apparently killed her husband. The film was produced by Jones's then husband David O. Selznick, who also produced Dieterle's next film.
Portrait of Jennie (1948) stars Cotten and Jones as a painter and his muse. After meeting in Central Park one day, Cotten paints a portrait of Jones that makes him famous, but is unable to find his muse who he has fallen in love with. The film's budget became overinflated and Selznick was forced to sell Dieterle's contract to Paramount Pictures, where his career never reached the heights of the previous 15 years.
Read more about this topic: William Dieterle
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