The Devil and Max Devlin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Devil and Max Devlin is a motion picture from Walt Disney studios released in early 1981 starring Elliott Gould and Bill Cosby. Gould praised this film in interviews as the finest he ever did. It was considered to be controversial material from Walt Disney at the time because of the subject matter and the fact that Bill Cosby 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".
[edit] 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 and meets the Devil's chief henchman Barney (Cosby). He is told of his life of sin 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 and begins his frantic quest. 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. Gould is enraged by this and prepares to tear up the contracts. In the film's most intense scene, Cosby appears in full devil regalia and screams at Gould of his terrible hellish fate if he burns the contracts. Gould 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".
