Coming up soon (early 1/3), Doorway to Hell is one of the great early gangster pictures that recieves almost no credit for it's influence.
Lew Ayres is Louie Ricarno, a young man with ideas and ambition. When he takes over the gang syndicate and organizes territories and boundries, business begins to flourish. Louie's motives are not what we expect though. He's putting his kid brother through military school and planning on a quiet life in Florida for himself, writing his memoirs. Complications arise when Ricarno leaves the gang which is desperate to regain him at any cost.
Many people have criticizied Lew Ayres in this role, stating he was "too nice" to be a gangster and would have preferred a similar switcharoo as The Pubic Enemy (1931) thinking supporting player James Cagney would have been a better fit in this film as well. I don't agree. Aryes boyish looks and charisma are what make him threatening here. His rise and success is not due to violence, but his intellect--which is the reason the gang wants him back. He finds no enjoyment in "the life", its simply a means to an end. Cagney would have not been the same in such a role. He's great here in support and does little of the mugging and facial over-expression that he himself felt harmed PE.
While Doorway to Hell is not a perfect film, I do believe it has a superior story line to Little Ceasar or The Public Enemy. It also boasts some of the best lines in any gangster film ("Where you goin with that violin case?" "I gotta teach a guy a lesson."), and has an ending that never fails to move audiences. Catch it if you can.
Doorway to Hell (1930)
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Mr. Arkadin
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Doorway to Hell (1930)
Last edited by Mr. Arkadin on January 2nd, 2008, 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jdb1
This sounds very interesting, Mr. A. I'll try to record it. Thanks for the tip.
I can't picture Ayres as a toughie, but then, who would have thought someone with the screen image of Dick Powell could be such an effective noir actor? (He was certainly a tough cookie in real life business, but few people knew that about him.)
I can't picture Ayres as a toughie, but then, who would have thought someone with the screen image of Dick Powell could be such an effective noir actor? (He was certainly a tough cookie in real life business, but few people knew that about him.)
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This is a terrific movie. It was Cagney's second film, released just one week after his debut in "Sinner's Holiday."
His first scene starts with him shot from behind walking into a brewery. But he's not just walking, he's strutting with with that dancer's swagger, and even before they show his face you know you're seeing something totally different. It's a totally Cagney moment, one that no one else could do.
I have to say that Robert Elliott's flat dialogue drives me nuts. I find it incredible that someone with such a monotonous speaking voice was tapped for the first all talking picture, The Lights of New York.
Anyway, I'm with Mr. A. You owe it to yourself to see this. I ripped it to my iPod before Christmas to watch on the plane, and it's every bit as good as I remember.
His first scene starts with him shot from behind walking into a brewery. But he's not just walking, he's strutting with with that dancer's swagger, and even before they show his face you know you're seeing something totally different. It's a totally Cagney moment, one that no one else could do.
I have to say that Robert Elliott's flat dialogue drives me nuts. I find it incredible that someone with such a monotonous speaking voice was tapped for the first all talking picture, The Lights of New York.
Anyway, I'm with Mr. A. You owe it to yourself to see this. I ripped it to my iPod before Christmas to watch on the plane, and it's every bit as good as I remember.
Hello, I'm new to the site and was directed to it by a good friend and fellow biographer. Always enjoy discussing classic films and look forward to some interesting conversation.
"Doorway to Hell" is definitely creaky, but is unfairly judged by some as minor-league Warner Brothers gangster fare. It's understandable, I suppose, that its reputation has diminished in light of the studio's mega-hits "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy", and perhaps the picture does suffer somewhat from the miscasting of Lew Ayres as a crime czar. But on closer viewing. Ayres doesn't do a half-bad job (though watching him boss Jimmy around is like imagining Edward Woods doing the same if the original casting for "The Public Enemy" had been retained). But the film, of course, is a showcase for Cagney and, to a lesser extent, Noel Madison, who really was the type for slimy criminal roles. Nice to see the undervalued Dwight Frye doing his bit as a machinegun-toting hoodlum. I enjoyed this picture very much and thought it had a neat ending, somewhat reminiscent of "The Racket". I'm glad to have had the chance to discover this film through TCM - as I have with many other obscure movies that otherwise would never be shown up where I live.
One complaint: Since this film is available, why didn't Warners include it in their upcoming "Gangster Collection", instead of, say, "Blonde Crazy"? The film would have been much better suited to the series.
Also, now that TCM has dug up a copy of "Up the River" (released to DVD as part of the John Ford series), fingers are crossed that they can do the same with "Quick Millions". Granted, I'm sure the print quality will be wretched, but the film is another entertaining (and neglected) early gangster entry with early tough guy roles for Spencer Tracy and George Raft.
"Doorway to Hell" is definitely creaky, but is unfairly judged by some as minor-league Warner Brothers gangster fare. It's understandable, I suppose, that its reputation has diminished in light of the studio's mega-hits "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy", and perhaps the picture does suffer somewhat from the miscasting of Lew Ayres as a crime czar. But on closer viewing. Ayres doesn't do a half-bad job (though watching him boss Jimmy around is like imagining Edward Woods doing the same if the original casting for "The Public Enemy" had been retained). But the film, of course, is a showcase for Cagney and, to a lesser extent, Noel Madison, who really was the type for slimy criminal roles. Nice to see the undervalued Dwight Frye doing his bit as a machinegun-toting hoodlum. I enjoyed this picture very much and thought it had a neat ending, somewhat reminiscent of "The Racket". I'm glad to have had the chance to discover this film through TCM - as I have with many other obscure movies that otherwise would never be shown up where I live.
One complaint: Since this film is available, why didn't Warners include it in their upcoming "Gangster Collection", instead of, say, "Blonde Crazy"? The film would have been much better suited to the series.
Also, now that TCM has dug up a copy of "Up the River" (released to DVD as part of the John Ford series), fingers are crossed that they can do the same with "Quick Millions". Granted, I'm sure the print quality will be wretched, but the film is another entertaining (and neglected) early gangster entry with early tough guy roles for Spencer Tracy and George Raft.
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Mr. Arkadin
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Nice to see you here Raftfan. I wondered why it was not included in the upcoming Gangsters collection as well. One good thing about format changes like DVD (or CD) is companies often bring stuff back into print, hoping it will sell. I think if TCM promoted some of these films a bit more (or at least showed them in Prime Time) they could certainly build an audience among their viewers that would buy these movies.
Thank you for your welcome, Mr. Arkadin. Yes, I agree with what you are saying. And it does seem as if exposure on TCM has some influence on classic DVD releases (or is it the other way around?). Box sets seem to be the way to go, though I remain perplexed why Warners did not include "The Oklahoma Kid" instead of "West Point Story" in the Cagney Collection. That film stood out like the proverbial sore thumb. Not even in the same era as the rest.
I'm waiting - hoping - for a Bogart "Gangster" collection. There are still six Warner films that could fit very nicely into such a set.
And, hopefully, "Doorway to Hell" could be included in a vintage "Cagney Collection". Lots of great early 30 titles available.
I'm waiting - hoping - for a Bogart "Gangster" collection. There are still six Warner films that could fit very nicely into such a set.
And, hopefully, "Doorway to Hell" could be included in a vintage "Cagney Collection". Lots of great early 30 titles available.
I thought The Doorway to Hell was a great movie and to me it is for Cagney what Little Caesar was for Edward G Robinson. It feels more right as a companion than The Public Enemy does, and for this reason:
In each, the future gangster star starts out as a nobody, both as an actor and especially as a character. Someone else in the story and on the credits is in charge, someone who audiences of the time would presumably have recognised as being in charge from moment one. Yet to my eyes, watching for the first time 75 years on, there's just no mistaking it: I couldn't keep my eyes off the nobodies. Cagney and Robinson were two of the most powerful actors ever, they've become two of my very favourites, and they just dominated. They didn't try to be flash or deliberately steal the show, they simply owned these films by being there.
I like Lew Ayres, but I kept forgetting he was in the film. It was Cagney's show from the moment he walked/danced onto the screen and I couldn't stop watching him. The exact same thing goes for Eddie G in Little Caesar. Yeah, yeah, he's the new guy who doesn't know anything and Stanley Fields is the big man. It was hard looking at anyone else, even Douglas Fairbanks Jr, and the whole film couldn't do anything but gravitate towards Robinson like a magnet.
In each, the future gangster star starts out as a nobody, both as an actor and especially as a character. Someone else in the story and on the credits is in charge, someone who audiences of the time would presumably have recognised as being in charge from moment one. Yet to my eyes, watching for the first time 75 years on, there's just no mistaking it: I couldn't keep my eyes off the nobodies. Cagney and Robinson were two of the most powerful actors ever, they've become two of my very favourites, and they just dominated. They didn't try to be flash or deliberately steal the show, they simply owned these films by being there.
I like Lew Ayres, but I kept forgetting he was in the film. It was Cagney's show from the moment he walked/danced onto the screen and I couldn't stop watching him. The exact same thing goes for Eddie G in Little Caesar. Yeah, yeah, he's the new guy who doesn't know anything and Stanley Fields is the big man. It was hard looking at anyone else, even Douglas Fairbanks Jr, and the whole film couldn't do anything but gravitate towards Robinson like a magnet.