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The Devil and Max Devlin

 

 
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The Devil and Max Devlin
 
 
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The Devil and Max Devlin is a motion picture from Walt Disney
Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was a multiple Academy Award-winning American film producer, film director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur and philanthropist....
 studios released in early 1981 starring Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould

Elliott Gould is an Academy Award-nominated United States actor. He became known during the 1970s, having starred in many Hollywood films, and has since continued appearing in supporting roles....
 and Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby

William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a vanguard role in the 1960s action show I Spy....
. Gould praised this film in interviews as the finest he ever did. It was considered to be controversial material from Walt Disney
Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was a multiple Academy Award-winning American film producer, film director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur and philanthropist....
 at the time because of the subject matter and the fact that Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby

William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a vanguard role in the 1960s action show I Spy....
 was featured as a character of evil. It was also the first Disney film to actually contain swearing (not just religious connotations) such as "damn" and an unfinished "son of a bitch".






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The Devil and Max Devlin is a motion picture from Walt Disney
Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was a multiple Academy Award-winning American film producer, film director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur and philanthropist....
 studios released in early 1981 starring Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould

Elliott Gould is an Academy Award-nominated United States actor. He became known during the 1970s, having starred in many Hollywood films, and has since continued appearing in supporting roles....
 and Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby

William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a vanguard role in the 1960s action show I Spy....
. Gould praised this film in interviews as the finest he ever did. It was considered to be controversial material from Walt Disney
Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was a multiple Academy Award-winning American film producer, film director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur and philanthropist....
 at the time because of the subject matter and the fact that Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby

William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a vanguard role in the 1960s action show I Spy....
 was featured as a character of evil. It was also the first Disney film to actually contain swearing (not just religious connotations) such as "damn" and an unfinished "son of a bitch". This film was one of three films that influenced the creation of Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures

Touchstone Pictures is one of several alternate film labels of The Walt Disney Company, established in 1984. Its releases typically feature more mature themes than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner....
 and Hollywood Pictures
Hollywood Pictures

Hollywood Pictures is one of The Walt Disney Company's several alternate movie divisions. Like Disney's Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films brands, it produces films for a more mature adult audience than Walt Disney Pictures....
 to make movies for mature audiences. The film was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment

Anchor Bay Entertainment is a home entertainment company and a division of Starz Media, which is a Strategic business unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media....
 on DVD in November 2000.

Plot Summary


Max Devlin (Gould) is a shady landlord of a rundown tenement who is rather jaded and callous towards his fellow man. One day while chasing an errant tenant, he is run over by a bus and killed. He descends into hell
Hell

In many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear Divinity history often depict Hell as endless ....
 and meets the Devil's
Devil

The Devil is the title given to the supernatural being, who, in mainstream Christianity, Islam, and some other religions, is believed to be a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind....
 chief henchman Barney Satin (read: Satan) (Cosby). He is told of his life of sin
Sin

Sin is a term used mainly in a religion context to describe an act that violates a morality rule, or the state of having committed such a violation....
 and the fact that he is doomed. However, he is given a chance to save himself by convincing three other people, a teenage nerd, a young boy and an aspiring singer to sell their souls in exchange. He returns to earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
 and begins his frantic quest
Quest

In mythology and literature a quest ? a journey towards a goal ? serves as a Plot device and as a symbol. Quests appear in the folklore of every nation and also figure prominently in non-national cultures....
. Along the way, he discovers his innate decency, the fact he really wasn't so bad all along. He falls in love with the boy's mother and they plan to marry. Eventually, through various methods, he obtains all three signatures on the fatal contract. However, on his wedding day Cosby's character appears and tells him he will take these chosen ones right now rather than let them live natural lives. Max is enraged by this and prepares to tear up the contracts. In the film's most intense scene, Cosby appears in full devil regalia
Regalia

Regalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereignty.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'....
 and screams at Max of his terrible hellish fate if he burns the contracts. Max does so anyway and suddenly realizes he is living again. His kind, unselfish act was deemed unfit for hell. The last scene shows Max looking upward (as a reference to Heaven) and saying "Thank you very much".

Taglines

  • A new high in being lowdown.
  • Their main goal is swiping soul.


External links