Hell's House

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.

"Hell's House" (Capital Films, 1932), directed by Howard Higgins, is a low-budget drama that might have been a much better reform school drama had it been produced at the Warner Brothers studio, in spite of pre-Warner Brothers contract players of Pat O'Brien and Bette Davis in supporting roles that give this the Warner Brothers feel. The central character to the story happens to be played by Junior Durkin (famous for his role as Huck Finn in Paramount's Mark Twain classics, "Tom Sawyer" (1930) and "Huckleberry Finn" (1931), both starring Jackie Coogan). But for today's viewers who may possibly find this movie in a local video store, Bette Davis is the one who brings added interest in a somewhat small role.

The story opens at a farm where Jimmy Mason (Junior Durkin) helps his widowed mother (Mary Alden) with the chores. The pleasant day turns out tragically when Mrs. Mason is suddenly struck and killed by a passing automobile. Left alone, Jimmy decides to come to the city and live with his Uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin) and Aunt Emma (Emma Dunn), landlords of an apartment building. There he meets one of their tenants, Matt Kelly (Pat O'Brien), who befriends the boy, and later introduces him to his girlfriend, Peggy (Bette Davis), a tough babe with a good heart, who takes an instant liking to this young teen. Jimmy, however, is quite naive and doesn't realize that Kelly is a smooth-talking, small-town operator and racketeer. Jimmy is soon offered a job by Kelly answering the telephone at his bootlegging headquarters. After showing him what to do and say, Kelly leaves Jimmy alone to tend to business. As Kelly slowly drives away, he looks at his rear view mirror to find the police barging in the place and arresting Jimmy. While in juvenile court, Jimmy believes that Kelly will come and speak on his behalf, and be released (no such luck). He refuses to identify Kelly as the man who hired him to the judge (Wallis Clark). Because of this, Jimmy is sentenced to three years in a state reformatory. While there, Jimmy becomes the victim of a cruelly-operated institution.

The supporting cast includes Junior Coughlan as Shorty, a reform school boy with a heart ailment who befriends Jimmy; Morgan Wallace as Frank Gebhardt, a crusading publisher wanting to improve reform school conditions; and James Marcus as the superintendent. While the opening credits presented on TV or video today give Davis and O'Brien star billing over Junior Durkin, the current opening credits are actually taken from reissue prints that capitalized on the stardom of both Davis and O'Brien, and is not the original opening credits as presented to 1932 audiences, hence the misspelling of Durkin's surname spelled Dirkin.

Although a reform school drama like this had been produced numerous times by other studios throughout the 1930s, "Hell's House," is really nothing new, in fact, a trifle slow at 70 minutes, handicapped by low-budget production values. Acting is good and reform school situations are grimly handled. However it's still interesting to see mainly because of the supporting actors of O'Brien and Davis, both of whom would become major film stars in later years, especially at Warner Brothers. (**1/2)

Jimmy idolizes bootlegger Matt, and when he refuses to implicate his friend, he is sent to reform school. He befriends Shorty, a boy with a heart condition, and escapes to let the world know about the brutal conditions.

Mordaunt Hall observed, "The attempt to pillory reform schools is hardly adult in its attack, but it has a few moderately interesting interludes. The direction of this film is old-fashioned. Pat O'Brien gives a forced performance. Young Durkin's playing is sincere and likewise that of Bette Davis as Peggy."

The biggest problem with this film is how poorly the physical film itself has held up. The Library of Congress has done a great job cleaning it, but it remains a bit of a mess, particularly in the first act. Hopefully some day a better print will be found. The story itself is decent, and tells another angle on the whole gangster theme: what of those who are not gangsters but keep their mouths shut on their behalf?

Jimmy Mason is an orphan living with his aunt and uncle. He is taken with their cocky boarder Matt Kelly (Pat O'Brien) who claims to have political connections but is only a petty bootlegger. Peggy Gardner (Bette Davis) is Matt's girlfriend. When Jimmy gets arrested, he is sure to be rescued by his well connected friend Matt. He refuses to turn in Matt and gets sent to reformatory school for three years instead. It's a rough place and his new friend is dying.

The most compelling part of the movie is Jimmy waiting for Matt while he's in court. The rest is a functional story for the boy although he's a little too clueless even at the end. His character needs to get smarter. Bette Davis is a supporting actress in this one. It's very early in her career. I would like Matt to be younger and his turn is a little too happy ending.