SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

judithh-1 Devil's Doorway is an indescribably sad movie. It is directed by Anthony Mann and photographed in Caravaggesque black and white by cinematographer John Alton. The film is a story about war, peace, love and bigotry. At the end of the Civil War, a veteran of the Union Army, Lance Poole, returns to his home in Wyoming. Poole, (Robert Taylor), a Shoshone Indian, has had his fill of fighting and simply wants to live in peace on his family's ancestral acres.The West, however, is changing. Wyoming has become a territory and the railroad is spreading westward. Immigration from the drought ridden states of the Midwest is filling Wyoming with sheepherders who need land and water to survive. New territorial laws are Draconian in respect to Indians—they are not American citizens, but wards of the government. Land that has been in their families for generations is now open to anyone who wants to homestead there.A lawyer named Vern Coolan (Louis Calhern) has moved West for his health. He hates Indians, especially Lance Poole, or Broken Lance, a "rich Indian." Coolan stirs up trouble by encouraging the sheep men to homestead Poole's land. Poole goes to the only lawyer in town other than Coolan, one A. Masters (Paula Raymond). At first horrified that she is a woman, Poole does hire her to help him.Coolan is successful in mobilizing the sheep men. The Indians, led by Broken Lance, must fight to survive. Masters involves the army in a misguided attempt to save the man she now loves. A final battle ensues with the predictable outcome. Broken Lance, a holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his war service, surrenders to the cavalry.A sub-theme of the film is the confinement of Indians to the reservations. Their men dead, a small group of women and children is forced to return to a reservation from their shelter on Poole's land. Watching them trudge away to a life of confinement is heart breaking. There are no happy endings here.Robert Taylor is superb as Broken Lance Poole. When offered the role, Mr. Taylor was happy to act in a film that, for once, saw things from the Indian point of view. It is the same year he made another film, Ambush, that saw Indians as villains. Lance Poole gradually morphs into Broken Lance as Taylor is forced to accept that the world only sees the color of his "hide." His manner of dress changes as does his personality. Lance Poole was a happy man looking forward to the future. Broken Lance sees that there is no future for him.The supporting cast of Marshall Thomson, James Mitchell, Edgar Buchanan, Spring Byington and Fritz Lieber, are first rate. The music by Daniele Amfithreatrof is muted and sorrowful, except for the battle scenes.Broken Arrow, with James Stewart and Jeff Chandler, was made after Devil's Doorway but released first. It was a more upbeat and successful take on Indians. Devil's Doorway did make money but, according to the studio, only a net profit of $25,000. Today the film is highly regarded for its hard edged honesty, first-rate acting, subtle direction and superb photography.

Gross Ryder This movie is in a remarkable contrast to Broken Arrow (released in the same year) insofar that in this movie one bad man (lawyer Verne Coolan) leads a whole community on the wrong path. It's not that the others are innocent sheep that can be led anywhere, but the racial, cultural prejudices are the preying grounds for the Devil to feed upon. And what better agent or instrument of the Devil than an evil lawyer, and an unjust law as the weapon? The hook or by crook manner in which the Native people in the new World were looted and stripped of all their rights is nowhere better exemplified than in this movie. Of course in this fictional (although in reality it was typical) case, the methodology is crude and overt because all that was needed was to push over one man who wanted to hold on to his land and to hold on to it even if he has to buy his own land if need be. But even that is denied to him because a new law framed by the government does not recognize an Indian as a valid citizen (and therefore cannot legally own any land even if bought by him). The far more sophisticated method was to simply pay a few dollars and bottles of whiskey to just one weak and drunkard Indian of the tribe, in return get a piece of paper signed by him selling all the land the tribe was living on, and loudly claim that they were now the owners of the land and the Indians had better push off or get killed by the 'volunteer army'. A further level of sophistication was required when the tribe was united under a strong Chief. In that case a treaty was made that promised protection to the Indians from further encroachment if the Indians gave up a large chunk of the land. Once that was accomplished, a slow process of gradual encroachment would begin, along with provocation upon provocation that would eventually elicit a retaliatory response. Once again a hue and cry would be raised that the Indians had broken the treaty. Naturally, the 'poor innocent settlers' were under grave threat to their lives and 'fully paid-up' property, and the 'poor innocent government' had no choice but to call in the 'highly disciplined' army to restore order in the land by wiping out the remaining Indians, and if some had still managed to survive, they would be confined to a 'reservation' where they would be slowly starved to death. Much later, even Hitler expressed his admiration for these sophisticated methods and advanced political science techniques used to find a 'solution' to the 'problem' of sub-humans. Such is the legacy of the 'conquest' and on such foundations 'the birth of The Nation' took place, The Nation that would claim to be the champion of 'human rights' and 'freedom of the individual' all over the world. Such ill-gotten power carries a terrible burden, and the telling of the story truthfully (in the general context) as this movie does, has substantial redeeming value, although what is done cannot be undone. Try to ignore it, try to forget it, and even that little window of redemption is shut for ever.

wes-connors In Wyoming, Native American Indian and Civil War hero Robert Taylor (as Broken Lance Poole) faces discrimination. When his father appears ready for the "happy hunting ground," Mr. Taylor can't get a doctor because he's an "Injun". White lawyer Louis Calhern (as Verne Coolan) wants to take away the land Taylor inherits. Taylor hires female attorney Paula Raymond (as Orrie Masters) to help and they are mutually attracted. Taylor learns that, as an Indian, he is not a United States citizen and has no right to his own land. Sheepherding homesteader Marshall Thompson (as Rod MacDougall) moves in, and the conflict gets violent..."Devil's Doorway" opens with some serious reservations about Taylor's portrayal of a Native American. It doesn't help that his make-up shades up inconsistently in different scenes. But, after about thirty minutes, when he's in full "red-skin" dress, Taylor creates an appealing and believable character. Taylor's stoic mid-life screen persona matches the role perfectly, and he responds with one of his best performances. Also lifting this film from the doldrums is director Anthony Mann, who gets photographer John Alton under your skin with some beautifully framed and staged scenes. The "pro-Indian" theme was not new, but had become rare.******* Devil's Doorway (9/15/50) Anthony Mann ~ Robert Taylor, Paula Raymond, Louis Calhern, Marshall Thompson

jpdoherty A dark grim yet gritty movie is probably the best way to describe this fairly forgotten and under appreciated jewel of a western. Produced by Nicholas Nayfack for MGM in 1950 the picture - just like "Winchester 73" and "The Gunfighter" made the same year - marked the coming of age of the American western. DEVIL'S DOORWAY was the first movie which undertook to depict - in graphic terms - the plight of the native American in the west of the 1860s. It was also the first western to be directed by Anthony Mann who alongside John Ford would become the genre's most iconic director with his masterpiece "Winchester 73" and thereafter with his fruitful working relationship with actor James Stewart that would produce some of the finest westerns ever made like "Bend Of The River", "The Far Country" and the brilliant "Naked Spur". Nicely written for the screen by Guy Trosperm DEVIL'S DOORWAY was stunningly photographed in glorious Black & White in Aspen, Colorado by John Alton and was complimented with a splendid atmospheric score - featuring an exciting Indian motif - by Russian composer Daniele Amfitheathrof.With the Congressional Medal of Honour pinned to his Union tunic distinguished Shoshone Indian Sergeant Major Lance Poole (Robert Taylor) returns home from the war between the States to his people in his beautiful valley of Sweet Meadow. He is greeted by his aged and ailing father (Fritz Leiber) ("You are home - you are again an Indian"). But prejudice against the tribe is beginning to take hold in the nearby town instigated and then exacerbated by a shady Indian hating lawyer Verne Coolin (Louis Calhern). Things really come to a head when sheep-men arrive and need to graze their herds on Sweet Meadow but Lance will not allow it and orders them off his property ("This is my land and you're trespassing"). However they are encouraged by Coolin to take the land since the Homestead Act of the period states that it is forbidden for an Indian to own any land. An enraged Lance takes up arms and leads his people against the interlopers (a well executed battle scene). Finally with many deaths on each side the army are sent for to quell the fighting which leads to a tragic finale. Lance settles his score with Coolin before the final shootout with the army which sees him and his braves being killed, his village destroyed and the tribe - what's left of them - being escorted to the reservation.DEVIL'S DOORWAY is a superb western and deserves to be rediscovered. With Mann's earlier noir successes "T Men" (1947) and "Raw Deal" ('48) DEVIL'S DOORWAY contains wonderful noirish moments of outstanding quality such as in the bruising fist fight sequence in the Saloon between Taylor and gunman James Milican with its low angle camera and arresting use of light and shadow and again later for scenes inside the dimly lit Indian shacks. The acting throughout is splendid all round. Taylor arguably gives the performance of his long career in an unusual bit of casting. Eschewing his handsome MGM glamour-boy image (he was Gable's chief rival at the studio) he turns in a powerful and striking portrayal of great depth and substance. His performance as a man who sees his beloved valley being ripped out from under him and his people is heartfelt and sincere. Excellent too is Louis Calhern as the antagonistic racist lawyer. His part not being very far removed from his brilliant shady lawyer in the studio's "Asphalt Jungle" the same year.So here is a powerfully evocative and accomplished movie that was strikingly bold for its time and today remains compelling in its stark presentation. Directed by a man who was on the verge of western movie greatness DEVIL'S DOORWAY is a movie that shouldn't be missed by anyone who cares about the American western. It is a movie that with some reassessment and a little more exposure could easily become one of Hollywood's greatest achievements and perhaps even Mann's real masterpiece. A movie that makes the final and prophetic line in the picture that bit more fitting.......... "IT WOULD BE TOO BAD IF WE SHOULD EVER FORGET".