Hell's House

Plot-- Following his mother's untimely death, young Jimmy (Durkin) is misled into a crime by fast-talking family friend Kelly (O'Brien). Betrayed again by Kelly, Jimmy is sent to a boy's reformatory where he experiences many institutional cruelties, but also meets fellow inmate Shorty (Coghlan), where a fast-friendship is formed. The question is what will become of Jimmy, friend Shorty, and will the cruelties of the reformatory and Kelly be rectified.

That reformatory brickyard is stacked to the skies and unlike anything I've seen. Should the mountainous stacks tumble, I doubt the boy stackers would ever be found. The movie's an interesting antique (1932) where O'Brien gets to show his fast-talking specialty as a pretentious bootlegger. But the real focus is Durkin, a likable kid, maybe too much so for the toughened last part. Sorry to say Davis's role looks like an add-on as O'Brien's conscionable girlfriend, and one that also gets a woman into a mainly male cast. It's still early in her career, but already Davis has that hard-eyed stare. And catch that toe-the-line stare-at-the-wall punishment misbehaving boys have to go through. That too is unlike anything I've seen.

Anyway, most of the runtime occurs inside the reformatory, minus the two top-billed players. Apparently, Durkin didn't have that same name recognition even though he gets the screen time. Too bad he died at such a young age and with so much to live for. His scenes with Junior Coughlin are unusually tender and moving, and dare-I-say, almost homo-erotic. All in all, the movie's in the prison-reform wave that occupied much of Hollywood at the time- e.g. Hell's Highway (1932); I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932). Despite the many passing decades, the hour still holds interest, so shouldn't be passed up

Really liked the idea for the story for 'Hells House'. It sounded quite touching and relatable. It also had Bette Davis, reason enough to see anything she was in regardless of the film's overall quality, in a small early role. The title does grab the attention and do appreciate early film, so there were enough reasons to make me want to see 'Hells House'. Regardless of the lukewarm reviews here and that it didn't look particularly great production-values wise.

'Hells House' has its moments and good things, and is overall quite watchable. It is though not much more than a curiosity piece, my curio reason being me wanting to see all the films not seen yet starring or featuring Davis. For me, the film could have a lot more with its relatively under-explored potential and more induced mixed feelings within me. It is namely to be seen for Davis but execution-wise it doesn't have much of everything else going for it.

Davis' screen time is far too small and her character is stock, she is above her material, but she brings a lot of dignity to what she has. Actually thought that in general the acting was above average, not mind-blowing but not amateur-hour, definitely one of 'Hells House's' better aspects. Great to see Pat O'Brien and Charley Grapewin here and giving likeable performances, Junior Durkin tries too hard at times and Jimmy was to me a problematic character in a way but he and Frank Coghlan's performances are deeply felt.

Their chemistry is also tenderly done, generally thought the character interaction was beautifully done in 'Hells House' and didn't get too cloying or overdone.

For all those good things though, too much is done wrong. The production values are far from great, excepting the effective use of shadow it looks very primitive. The sound likewise. The dialogue tends to be too corny and doesn't flow particularly well.

As said, Jimmy's character is problematic. Too naive in an unrealistic way. The story is charming and touching enough, but can be a little too slow in the early parts and can be contrived.

Overall, watchable curio but there are far better representations of Davis around. 5/10

One of the first films Bette D ever did. and unfortunately, one of the last that Howard Higgin directed. and almost the end of the road for Junior Durkin (played "Jimmy") as well. more about them later. In the film, Jimmy's mom gets bumped off, and he goes to live with relatives. Pat Obrien is "Kelly", a no-good boarder, and Davis is his girl. Jimmy takes the fall for Kelly, and now he's off to reform school. Sound and picture are pretty rough, which is probably why we never see this one on Turner Classics. director Higgin died quite young at 47. and Junior Durkin, the "star" of this also died young, at 19 in a car accident. Durkin also lost his own mother at a young age, just like in this film. The car was driven by friend Jackie Coogan. The film's okay. and a good oppurtunity to see a young Bette Davis in an early, small role. Showing on Moonlight Movies channel.

In the days of Prohibition, orphaned country boy Junior Durkin (as James "Jimmy" Mason) goes to live in the city with his aunt and uncle, after his mother is hit by a car. There, Mr. Durkin becomes meets, and hero-worships charismatic boarder Pat O'Brien (as Matt Kelly). Durkin doesn't know it, but Mr. O'Brien is a bootlegger. O'Brien dupes Durkin into being the lookout for a cache of liquor, which police discover. Durkin naively thinks the booze was planted, and refuses to squeal. O'Brien lets the lad take the rap, and Durkin is sentenced to three years in "The State Industrial School for Boys".

After arguing over who gets top, Durkin befriends bunkmate Frank "Junior" Coghlan (as "Shorty"), who has a heart ailment. Conditions in the reformatory are terrible. The boys have a plan to spring Durkin, but young Coghlan is caught. While his pal lies close to death, in solitary confinement, Durkin breaks out to enlist O'Brien's help in finding suitable doctors for Coghlan. But, O'Brien doesn't want to get involved, or he'll have to leave pretty Bette Davis (as Peggy Gardner) for prison...

Howard Higgin's "Hell House" was relatively ahead of the juvenile reformatory curve, and boasts several points of interest.

First off, you have the two "Juniors" Durkin and Coghlan in the same picture, comparable to the 1980s "Coreys" Haim and Feldman. Durkin even looks a little like Feldman. Unfortunately, Durkin died in a car accident. Coghlan's supporting performance upstages even Ms. Davis - and, you will see Davis get her hair messed up as O'Brien tell her, "I just washed my hands and I can't do a thing with 'em!" Note, this was before Davis uttered her famous trademark response, "I'd like to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair" (see "The Cabin in the Cotton"). Finally, you have a delirious Coghlan "talking" to his dead mother quite credibly in one scene - and, in the end, Durkin's deathly "conversation" gives the story startling emotional closure.

******* Hell's House (1/30/32) Howard Higgin ~ Junior Durkin, Frank Coghlan Jr., Pat O'Brien, Bette Davis

Hell's House (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Low-budget crime/melodrama is best remembered for the early views of Pat O'Brien and Bette Davis. In the film, a young boy (Junior Durkin) moves to New York after the death of his mother where he quickly looks up to Matt (O'Brien). What the boy doesn't know is that Matt is a bootlegger and he ends up taking the rap for a crime and sent to an abusive reform school. The boy is trapped there unless Matt can grow some guts and admit that he is the one who should be behind bars. This film beat the Warner/James Cagney drama THE MAYOR OF HELL into theaters by nearly a year so I'm curious if this is one of those small studios hearing about a major studios work and then trying to race a finished product into theaters. The film certainly comes off that way because it has the structure of a decent drama but everything seems so rushed that they forgot to add any heart or soul. The movie is pretty flat, especially compared to the Cagney film and its several remakes, because we really don't see too much here. This reform school is suppose to be "hell's house" yet we hardly ever see any of the abuse or torments that the boys are going through. O'Brien's character is underwritten pretty badly as is his girlfriend played by Davis. The two actors are the main reason to see the film because they both come off very likable. O'Brien gets to shine in the role of the bad guy with a heart and it's easy to see why Warner signed him up. Davis doesn't come off as good but it's fun seeing a legend pay her dues. Durkin also does pretty good in his role but I thought he was a lot more believable in his "country boy" state early in the film rather than the hero at the end.