The Devil's Disciple (1959)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This film is very entertaining but Shaw apparently missed the boat in researching Burgoyne's character (he obviously didn't read Burgoyne's journal or other material from the era which was no doubt too hard to track down back then).In this film Burgoyne is skittish and worried, rebuffs an officer about risking his men's lives using bayonet charges. In fact, Burgoyne was the leading proponent of the bayonet, even issuing an order that the soldiers were not allowed to fire their weapons without a direct order and that the supremacy of the British bayonet was to be impressed upon them. He'd had experience fighting the Spanish in an earlier war and was not a reluctant warrior.Also in the movie he's a bit timid because he states the rebels have them outnumbered by six to one. They were in fact outnumbered (probably more like four to one, although accounts from the time vary) but he did not know it because his Indian scouts had deserted after Bennington and he had trouble getting intelligence reports. In fact, he led the last battle as a reconnaissance mission to test the enemy's strength, and had promised his subordinate generals that he'd (finally) give in to their pleas to retreat if the enemy was too strong. That recon mission proved to be his final reckoning in the war.But watch the movie anyway. It's very entertaining.

It occurred to me while watching "The Devil's Disciple" that there aren't that many films set during the Revolutionary War. This one brings together three of the screen's greatest actors - Lancaster, Douglas and Olivier - in a dramatic, yet oftentimes funny perspective on British attempts to stifle revolt in the Colonies. The picture had me reflecting on how ordinary citizens might have been conflicted about their real loyalties, much in the same way most Americans were opposed to entering World War II until Pearl Harbor. Just too much trouble to be worth it, you know, why upset the applecart? After all, it's just easier to pay those taxes and tribute to an absent king.That argument is stood on it's head by the devil's disciple of the title, the irascible Dick Dudgeon, played to mischievous perfection by Kirk Douglas. You can tell he just loves to zing both sides, the hypocrisy of his fellow Springtown citizens, and the imperious British under the command of 'Gentleman Johnny' Burgoyne (Olivier). It's been a long time since my parochial school history lessons, but I still remember that it was Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga that turned the Revolution in favor of the colonialists. The picture takes place roughly three weeks before that historic event, with no inkling of an ultimate British defeat.What makes the film intriguing to me is it's deft use of the King's English, based as it is on a play by George Bernard Shaw. One is forced to listen carefully to pick up the subtleties, and it would be difficult to say who had the best lines. However the scene that garners the most from it's writing is when Dudgeon, still mistakenly taken for Parson Anderson (Lancaster), parries with Burgoyne over his method of execution. Under 'real' circumstances, I'm not so sure anyone, least of all Dudgeon, would be as flippant about his survival chances, but it makes for clever entertainment.The only difficulty with the story is Judith Anderson's (Janette Scott) mid-picture turn for Douglas's character. I'm not convinced that colonial Puritan norms would have been challenged by a reverend's wife in such manner, considering how uptight the rest of society was at the time. Her quizzical flip-flop at the end of the story was just too much of a stretch, and it didn't seem like she wound up with much choice in the matter.

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.

It has been years since I've actually seen the movie and was disappointed that it can't presently be found on DVD. Yet, while fiction, it is a tight, well acted piece of near dark comedy placed in a revolutionary war setting.Lancaster's portrayal is akin to his as the somewhat self-righteous Wyatt Earp in O.K. Corral. Probably the wittiest scene is played between the prisoner Douglas and Sir Laurence (Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne) as a straight man with a bit of a twinkle in the eye. First with Olivier near whining to Kirk how he'd think better of him if he only knew how much he'd paid for his commission - a common practice in German George's British army. Convicted and scheduled to hang, Douglas demands a soldier's firing squad only to talked out of it by Gen'l. Burgoyne decrying - with wry historical accuracy, the woeful state of marksmanship of the average Red Coat then serving in the Colonies. "Well then, by all means hang me !"Delightful, well paced, funny, and even a tad dramatic with Burt, like Disney's Lambert the Bashful Lion, finally roaring to the height of minuteman steel in the final scenes.