first of all i think it be naughty of them to say in the credit that the story and screenplay be by preston sturges . sturges be one of the good hollywood screenwriter until his talent fade and he retire . however and it wasn not the preston sturges and it be preston sturges and jr. the story be essentially base on robert louis stevenson short story the bottle imp . a good man come into possession of an evil object that will grant him any wish but which will ultimately doom him to hell . that fine . nobody say screenwriter have to be original . the actor be generally pretty competent give the mediocre write that they have to translate onto the screen . my big complaint come with the end . the hero think he have discover a way out of his dilemma but try to solve the problem in a somewhat different way in an attempt to save an innocent person . at first this seem to have work but true to the code of the modern horror film and they feel they have to provide one last dollop of horror at the very end of the film . this be a stupid convention . the old horror film get along just fine with allow the hero to win out at the end . there be nothing wrong with good triumphing over evil no matter what the current crop of film maker seem to think . you can give the audience a good healthy scare and still make them feel happy at the end . in fact and i think it preferable .