The Criterion Collection and Spirit Entertainment have announced the April Criterion titles that are coming to the UK in April. First up, we have a Blu-ray release of William Dieterle's 1941 fantasy drama All That Money Can Buy, which many will know better as The Devil and Daniel Webster. This will be followed by the eight-story 1990 Dreams, a hypnotic, visually ravishing and deeply personal work from director Akira Kurosawa, which will be released on Blu-ray and 4K UHD.

ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY (aka THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER) (USA 1941)

Blu-ray | 8 April 2024

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.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION 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

DREAMS (Japan / USA 1990)

Blu-ray | 4K UHD | 22 April 2024

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.

4K UHD & BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:

• 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