18. Ray Walston - Damn Yankees (1958)
Lucifer singing in a musical? I think that qualifies as a "weird" performance for this article, don't you? Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian, The Stand) plays Mr. Applegate who agrees to a deal with John Boyd to help his favorite American baseball team, the Washington Senators, turn around their losing ways. It's a fun film that continues to be performed on Broadway year after year. Fun side fact: The successor to the defunct Washington Senators baseball team, the Washington Nationals, just finished the 2012 season with the best record in baseball. I hate this (I'm a Philadelphia Phillies fan).
Weird or Wonderful? - Weird. If the Devil sings in a film, it's weird.
17. Walter Huston - The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
This is one of those classic movies that doesn't get its due. Walter Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) has his best performance as Mr. Scratch, with Cat People's Simone Simon as his sexy consort. Originally known by many different names that were more palatable to the American South (such as All That Money Can Buy), The Devil and Daniel Webster features yet another character, a farmer named Jabez Stone, making a deal with Satan. The main thrust of the movie details the struggle between Daniel Webster (recognized as one of the greatest Senators in United States history) and Lucifer for the right to Jabez Stone's soul. The Devil agrees to a trial by jury using some of the most evil men in American history as jurors.
I won't tell you the ending, but based on the penchant for Hollywood in the 1940's to give us a happy ending, you can probably guess. Watch this movie. You won't regret it.
Weird or Wonderful? - Wonderful. Huston's role as Mr. Scratch earned him an Oscar nomination, as well it should have.