La puerta del diablo

"Devil's Doorway" is a Western drama that by its very title says there's something evil, bad or terribly wrong in the plot of this story. The prejudice and injustice soon become obvious to all. And, the character of Verne Coolan is quickly seen as the villain, the bad guy, the devil. But, surely, the originator of the story and writer of the screenplay intended a message with more depth. Thus, the "doorway" in the title. Before more discussion of that, I note the setting and fine performances by all in this film.

Robert Taylor is superb as Lance Poole, a Shoshone Indian and returning decorated veteran of the Civil War. Louis Calhern, a very good actor, plays Coolan. Without any apparent personal reason, his dislike of Indians - the native Americans, is clearly a prejudice of hate that blinds reasoning and hardens the heart. Paula Raymond is very good as Orrie Masters, who herself has battled some prejudice and bias of the time and culture that doesn't expect a woman to be able to be a lawyer. Lance himself, has a tinge of such prejudice at first. Spring Byington as Orrie's mother, Edgar Buchanan as Zeke Carmody, and Tom Fadden as the saloon keeper, Bob Trammell, are symbols of many other people - probably a large majority of the human race. They are those who aren't prejudiced by nature, but are subject to the wiles and whims of the culture and time. There are some, of course, who are gullible and easily swayed to violence or destruction by lies, manipulation and subtle coercion.

With filming done around Grand Junction and Aspen, Colorado, the movie has some very good scenery that depicts the area around the Medicine Bow National Forest, from mountainous areas to the grassy valleys and stretches of high plains. But, there are some anomalies about locations and settings in this story and film. While it doesn't alter the plot overall, for some who study and enjoy history and know the U. S. geography quite well, these anomalies are a little puzzling.

The town of Medicine Bow is just north of the Medicine Bow national Forest, where Lance's land was likely located. But the Wind River Range that Zeke mentions having trapped in with Lance's father, starts 150 miles to the Northwest of Medicine Bow. And, when Lance herds his cattle to market, they go all the way to Bozeman, Montana. That would be more than 500 miles over some rough terrain, including mountains. And what would the cattle market be there? He could have gone 100 miles or less to Cheyenne or 180 miles to Denver over much easier terrain. Even Salt Lake City, at 350 miles would have been a much easier cattle drive. And there surely would have been bigger markets for cattle in those places. This is before the transcontinental railroad reached across this territory. Lance tells Zeke that he had seen the U. P. (Union Pacific Railroad) 75 miles East of Old Fr. Kearny. That would have been about 100 miles West of Omaha. So, there were no railroads to ship cattle out of Bozeman or any of the other places, but the bigger towns surely had more sizable markets for beef.

And, who knows what the Indian reservation is that the movie refers to. The Wind River Reservation would be established in 1868 by agreement with the U. S. government and the Eastern Shoshone Nation. It covers 2.2 million acres just about in the middle of Wyoming - more than 3,500 square miles of land and water that includes mountains, grass land and high desert country.

What this film shows is how one man or a few people with strong prejudices can spread their venom among some people. I noted that sheepmen were not riled up or anxious to try to take land from the Shoshone. Calhern's Coolan kept calmly steering them toward a battle. Even then, Rod MacDougall (played by Marshal Thompson) wanted to negotiate with Poole and talk to attorney Masters. Coolan had promoted the sheepmen coming to the area in the first place, obviously to cause a battle and/or drive the Shoshone away. And, but for needing water and grazing land for their sheep, these men had no animus against the Indians. But, with some help from his errant troublemaker, Ike Stapleton (played by James Millican), Coolan finally succeeds in rousing the sheepmen and some town people to confront the Indians.

The story has a poignant ending. Had the Indians been considered American citizens in the first three centuries of the settlement of North America, their plight would surely have been quite different. It wasn't until 1924 that Congress granted citizenship to all native Americans. And, that was spurred on by the high number of American Indians who enlisted in the Armed Forces during World War I. There's some interesting history about this film and it's being held back for release until after the 20th Century Fox film, "Broken Arrow" came out that year. "Devil's Doorway" is a different film and superior to that one in some ways, but has not enjoyed the recognition that the other film has had.

Still, this is a very good film about the plight of native Americans, and especially about prejudice and how good but uninformed and ignorant people can be manipulated and coerced into prejudice, and be led into biased and unjust behavior. It happens still in the 21st century where it can be so easily disguised under false notions of justice, liberty and freedom. Would that everyone become more vigilant so as to respect others and their differences, and not become bigots, hypocrites or promoters of prejudice.

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.

Your one other comment on this film so far (Under the Arch) sums up my feelings entirely. Why this masterpiece of a film is not mentioned in the same historical discussions of great westerns as Stagecoach, The Oxbow Incident, High Noon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, etc. is beyond me. But of course it was made by Anthony Mann and that says it all. Those little known episodes in our nation's history in which greedy white men dispossessed cooperative and non-violent native Americans can never be re-told often enough; such as when Andrew Jackson, despite a Supreme Court decision to the contrary, conspired in the 1820s with the land robbers so as to allow those white men to exploit the state's mineral wealth in the 1820s. The peaceful and civil Cherokees were driven out of their Carolina homelands and into concentration camps. (Hitler had nothing on Andrew Jackson.) From there the Cherokees were driven into Florida and then on to Oklahoma via the "Trail of Tears." And the Devil's Doorway is such a classic tale of land-grabbing, ethnic cleansing, bigotry, and high-handed discriminatory bureaucracy as to make your flesh creep. See it.

PS I recently (2009) saw Anthony Mann's Cimarron (1960, his last Western) for the first time and read all the many reviews of it. Many went into great depth as to Mann and his career, listing and evaluating many of his previous films. Not one of them mentioned this film, perhaps his greatest! So even among Mann aficionados one of his greatest accomplishments has fallen by the wayside and into the memory hole! What can be done about this to bring back such a classic and restore it to its rightful place in film history?

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

Sensational western , deemed as the first Hollywood film to side with the Indians , along with ¨Broken arrow¨ by Delmer Daves and starred by James Stewart . It deals with Lance Poole (offbeat cast of Robert Taylor who surprisingly is pretty well) , an Indian Navajo who won a Medal of Honor fighting at Gettysburg , goes back to his tribal territory intent on peaceful cattle ranching . Returning home and finding a bleak situation : his people living in poverty . As usual , crooked settlers and mean traders (Louis Calhern) thwart peace . Some people and State laws attempt to take possession his lands . Then Lance hires an advocate at law (Paula Marshall) . The solicitor attempting to find truce among feuding white man and Indian people.

This picture acclaimed like one of the first to deal the Indian with understanding and justice . The film contains agreeable depiction about Indian habits as it actually was , including adulthood initiations , complex mythology and peculiar culture .¨Devil's doorway¨ along with ¨Broken arrow¨ marked in the cinema field a trail of consideration and empathy toward native indigenous to North America, and lift the troublesome relationships between native and colonizers , then it would go on other films until reach its climax in the great and magnificent "Dancing with wolves" (Kevin Costner, USA 1990). Good acting by Robert Taylor as an Indian Navajo who served in Civil War and must fight to right the injustices against his people ; his perfect interpretation as "Lance Poole" remains one of the highlights in his prestigious career. Furthermore , an attractive Paula Marshall as a kind advocate and Louis Calhern as the intriguing lawyer "Verne Coolan" makes an adequate character of the evil . Support cast is frankly excellent such as Marshall Thompson as Rod MacDougall , the recently deceased James Mitchell as Red Rock , veteran Edgar Buchanan as Zeke Carmody , Rhys Williams and Scotty MacDougall and Chief John Big Tree as Thundercloud . Evocative and imaginative musical score by Daniel Amfitheatroph . This good film packs a splendid photography in atmospheric black and white by John Alton, another European -Austro-Hungarian- who emigrated US and became an excellent cameraman expert on Noir cinema as well as Nicholas Musuraca .

This top-drawer Western was stunningly realized by the master Anthony Mann , infusing the traditional Western with psychological confusion , including his characteristic use of landscape with marvelous use of outdoors which is visually memorable , including a majestic production design by Cedric Gibbons , Metro Goldwyn Mayer's (MGM) ordinary . Mann established his forte with magnificent Western almost always with James Stewart . In his beginnings he made ambitious but short-lived quality low-budget surroundings of Eagle-Lion production as ¨T-men¨ , ¨They walked by night¨ , ¨Raw deal¨ , ¨Railroaded¨ and ¨Desperate¨ . Later on , he made various Western , remarkably good , masterpieces such as ¨The furies¨ , and ¨Devil's doorway¨ and several with his habitual star , James Stewart, as ¨Winchester 73¨ , ¨Bend the river¨ and ¨The far country¨ . They are characterized by roles whose determination to stick to their guns would take them to the limits of their endurance . Others in this throughly enjoyable series include ¨Tin star ¨ and ¨Man of the West¨ is probably one of the best Western in the fifties and sixties . After the mid-50 , Mann's successes came less frequently , though directed another good Western with Victor Mature titled ¨The last frontier¨. And of course ¨Devil's doorway ¨ that turns out to be outlandish but stylishly realized , well paced , solid , meticulous , with enjoyable look , and most powerful and rightly-considered . This well acted movie is gripping every step of the way . It results to be an over-the-top western and remains consistently agreeable as well as thought-provoking . Rating : Above average , the result is a top-of-range Western . Well worth watching and it will appeal to Robert Taylor fans .