Poor Devil (1973) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A low-ranking demon tries to secure a soul and promotion, only to survive through a loophole and return to humiliating punishment.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

The Promotion Test

Sammy monitors the human world from Hell and identifies a desperate department store clerk as a potential recruit. He receives a dangerous chance to earn promotion by securing the clerk's soul.

Key Events

• Hell Monitoring Room — Sammy uses Hell's scanners to observe a failed department store robbery attempt. Characters: Sammy Location: Hell
• A Soul Is Selected — Sammy decides that the observed clerk is suitable for recruitment. Characters: Sammy Location: Hell
• Promotion Bargain — Hell's ruler gives Sammy a chance to recruit a soul or face a thousand-year punishment. Characters: Sammy Location: Hell
• The Midnight Visit — Sammy appears beside the sleeping clerk to present his supernatural offer. Characters: Sammy Location: A bedroom

A Contract for Wishes

Sammy appears in the clerk's bedroom and offers seven years of wishes for his soul. The first wish creates an enormous logistical problem: emptying an entire department store overnight.

Key Events

• The Seven-Year Contract — The clerk accepts seven years of wishes in exchange for his soul. Characters: Sammy Location: A bedroom
• The Impossible Request — The first wish demands that the entire department store be emptied overnight. Characters: Sammy Location: A bedroom
• Hell Conference Room — Sammy consults damned souls after realizing his powers are limited. Characters: Sammy, Al Capone Location: Hell
• Robbery Advice — Al Capone contributes practical ideas for carrying out the theft. Characters: Sammy, Al Capone Location: Hell conference room

Hell's Overnight Robbery

Sammy seeks advice from condemned criminals, drugs the security guard, and leads demons in clearing the store. He gives the clerk a watch and discovers Father-in-Law among the accomplices.

Key Events

• The Guard Is Drugged — Sammy drugs the security guard to make the overnight robbery possible. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store
• Hell Cleans Out Store — Sammy and fellow demons remove the store's merchandise. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store
• A Watch Is Given — Sammy places a watch on the clerk's wrist during the robbery. Characters: Sammy Location: Jewelry counter
• A Familiar Accomplice — Sammy discovers Father-in-Law assisting with the robbery and keeps the discovery secret. Characters: Sammy, Father-in-Law Location: Department store

The Moral Reversal

The clerk realizes that the robbery would damage workers and friends, so he demands that everything be returned. His later hopes for a shared future collapse when Sammy reveals their different eternal destinations.

Key Events

• The Clerk Changes Course — The clerk realizes the theft would hurt workers and friends and orders the merchandise returned. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store
• The Merchandise Returns — Sammy and the demons struggle to restore the store's contents. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store
• A Mink Is Requested — The clerk makes a later wish for a mink coat and imagines a happy seven years. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store
• Separate Destinies Revealed — Sammy reveals that the clerk's wife is destined for Heaven rather than eternal life with him. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store

The Watch Loophole

Sammy notices that the clerk still wears the watch and uses this technical failure to void the contract. Hell's ruler punishes Sammy, whose final act of defiance only returns him to forced labor.

Key Events

• The Watch Loophole — Sammy asks for the time and notices that the clerk still wears the watch. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store
• The Contract Is Void — Because the watch was not returned, Sammy declares the contract null and void. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store
• Punishment Reversed — Hell's ruler appears to Sammy, scolds him, and sends him back to Hell. Characters: Sammy Location: Department store
• Coal Shoveling Sentence — Sammy is forced to shovel coal after allowing the soul to escape. Characters: Sammy, Bligh Location: Hell furnace room
• Defiance at the Furnace — Sammy throws the shovel into the furnace, and Bligh replaces it with a warning. Characters: Sammy, Bligh Location: Hell furnace room
• Back to Work — Sammy resumes shoveling after Bligh warns that his sentence can increase. Characters: Sammy, Bligh Location: Hell furnace room

Story Breakdown

• Hellish Ambition — Sammy's desire for advancement begins the supernatural scheme.
  • Scanner Surveillance — Sammy watches the human world through Hell's scanners.
  • Promotion Threat — He receives one chance to succeed or face severe punishment.
• The Soul Contract — Sammy recruits a clerk by offering seven years of wishes for a soul.
  • Midnight Appearance — Sammy materializes beside the clerk in bed.
  • Seven-Year Bargain — The clerk signs a contract trading his soul for wishes.
• The Store Heist — The first wish forces Sammy to organize a supernatural overnight robbery.
  • Criminal Consultation — Sammy asks Al Capone and other damned souls for advice.
  • Guard Drugged — Sammy neutralizes the security guard.
  • Merchandise Removed — Sammy and fellow demons clear the department store.
• Unexpected Connections — The robbery reveals a familiar accomplice and creates a hidden secret.
  • Watch Exchange — Sammy places a watch on the clerk's wrist.
  • Father-In-Law Spotted — Sammy notices Father-in-Law helping with the robbery.
• Moral Reversal — Concern for innocent workers and friends transforms the theft into a restoration effort.
  • Harm Recognized — The clerk realizes that the company-wide theft would hurt others.
  • Store Restored — Sammy and the demons put the merchandise back.
• Broken Future — The clerk's imagined happiness collapses when Sammy explains their conflicting eternal destinations.
  • Mink Coat Wish — The clerk wishes for a mink coat and imagines shared adventures.
  • Heavenly Separation — Sammy reveals that the clerk's wife is destined for Heaven.
• The Technical Escape — Sammy turns a small failure into a loophole that destroys the contract.
  • Time Reveals Watch — The clerk admits the time while still wearing Sammy's watch.
  • Contract Nullified — Sammy argues that the incomplete return voids the agreement.
• Punishment Returns — Sammy loses his success and is forced back into Hell's labor system.
  • Ruler's Anger — Hell's ruler scolds Sammy for letting the soul escape.
  • Bligh's Warning — Bligh replaces Sammy's shovel and threatens a longer sentence.

Directed by

Robert Scheerer

Key Cast

• Sammy Davis Jr. — Sammy
• Christopher Lee — Lucifer
• Jack Klugman — Burnett J. Emerson
• Adam West — Dennis Crawford
• Gino Conforti — Bligh