Directed with stylish flair by William Dieterle, All That Money Can Buy (a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster) comes to Blu-ray on 8th April. Featuring an unforgettable, Oscar-winning score by Bernard Herrmann, and a truly diabolical performance from Walter Huston as the devil, the film brings the classic short story by Stephen Vincent Benét to life with inspired visuals. Jabez Stone is a hardworking farmer trying to make an honest living, but a streak of bad luck tempts him to do the unthinkable: bargain with the devil himself. In exchange for seven years of good fortune, Stone promises “Mr. Scratch” his soul. But when the troubled farmer begins to realize the error of his choice, he enlists the aid of the one man who might save him: the legendary orator and politician Daniel Webster. Directed with stylish flair by William Dieterle, All That Money Can Buy brings the classic short story by Stephen Vincent Benét to life with inspired visuals, an unforgettable, Oscar-winning score by Bernard Herrmann, and a truly diabolical performance from Walter Huston as the devil.

Following on 22nd April, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams arrives on 4K UHD & Blu-ray . Unfolding in a series of eight mythic vignettes, this late work by Akira Kurosawa was inspired by the beloved director’s own nighttime visions, along with stories from Japanese folklore.  Dreams is both a showcase for its maker’s artistry at its most unbridled and a deeply personal lament for a world at the mercy of human ignorance.

In a visually sumptuous journey through the master’s imagination, tales of childlike wonder give way to apocalyptic apparitions: a young boy stumbles on a fox wedding in a forest; a soldier confronts the ghosts of the war dead; a power-plant meltdown smothers a seaside landscape in radioactive fumes. Interspersed with reflections on the redemptive power of creation, including a richly textured tribute to Vincent van Gogh (who is played by Martin Scorsese), Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is both a showcase for its maker’s artistry at its most unbridled and a deeply personal lament for a world at the mercy of human ignorance.

Both films come loaded with special features (which is something I truly love about physical media from Criterion)

All That Money Can Buy has the following features.

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

Audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder and Steven C. Smith, biographer of composer Bernard Herrmann

New restoration demonstration

Reading by actor Alec Baldwin of the short story by Stephen Vincent Benét on which the film is based

Episode of the Criterion Channel series Observations on Film Art about the film’s editing

Comparison of the differences between the July 1941 preview version of the film, Here Is a Man, and the film’s 1943 rerelease as The Devil and Daniel Webster

The Columbia Workshop’s radio adaptations of Benét’s short stories “The Devil and Daniel Webster” and “Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent,” both featuring music by Herrmann

Trailer

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

PLUS: An essay by author Tom Piazza and a 1941 article by Benét

and for ‘Dreams’ we get the following. 

4K digital restoration, supervised by cinematographer Shoji Ueda, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack

One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features

Audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince

Feature-length documentary from 1990 shot on set and directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi

Interviews with production manager Teruyo Nogami and assistant director Takashi Koizumi

Documentary from 2011 by director Akira Kurosawa’s longtime translator Catherine Cadou, featuring interviews with filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Hayao Miyazaki, Martin Scorsese, and others

Trailer

PLUS: An essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri and Kurosawa’s script for a never-filmed ninth dream, introduced by Nogami

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