Sublime Infamie

I have been reading books on silent movies since 1967 and collecting them on home VHS/DVD/Blu-ray since 1990 and during that time I have never come across the name of director Irvin Willat or if I have then I certainly don't recall it. This is even more surprising as one of the many bonus supplements with this new Flicker Alley release is a 30 minute appreciation from the dean of silent film preservationists, Kevin Brownlow whose classic THE PARADE'S GONE BY gave me my first background in silent movies. A quick check of that book's index does show 1 photo and 1 brief mention. I have long been well aware of producer Thomas H. Ince and wish that we could get more of his films available for digital release including his 1916 anti-war allegory CIVILIZATION. It turns out that an uncredited Irvin Willat had a lot to do with that film which makes BEHIND THE DOOR even more interesting to me.

Made at the end of World War I and released just after it ended, DOOR is good old fashioned, heavy-handed, pro-American, anti-German propaganda that needs to be seen to be believed. It also needs to be seen in this edition for they have given this minor though notorious film a first class restoration and presentation. By they I am referring to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, The Library of Congress, and the Gosfilmofond archive of Russia who all collaborated on providing the film material, the funding, and the expertise to bring this movie back to life. Also thanks again to Flicker Alley for making it available to the general public. Although there are some signs of nitrate decomposition, 98% of the film looks great with the original intertitles recreated and beautiful color tinting and toning. Yes Virginia, there was color back in the silent era just not the vivid Technicolor that would come along later. The new music score by Stephen Horne accompanies the film perfectly.

The movie can essentially be broken down into 3 parts. Part 1 is set in a small town in Maine where anti-German feeling is stirred up against a local man of German ancestry (his name is Krug). After an amazing free-for-all that puts later Western fights to shame (and shows American anti-German hysteria), Krug goes off to enlist after secretly marrying the daughter of town's leading citizen. Part 2 shows him at sea where he is commander of a wartime vessel. He is joined by his wife who has stowed away after being thrown out by her father who has learned of the marriage. When the ship is sunk by a U-Boat the two of them are picked up in a lifeboat by the very same submarine who takes the wife and casts the husband adrift. Part 3 has him miraculously in command of another ship when they encounter the same U-Boat which he sinks but not before rescuing the sub's commander. Pretending to be a German spy (he speaks the language) he finds out what happened to his wife (horrific) and then enacts a brutal revenge (even more horrific)..

Although it's all over-the-top, it's made more than worthwhile by the skill with which it was made and by the movie's 3 leading performances. Hobart Bosworth was a long time character player with a theatrical background. His Captain Krug comes across as a hero on amphetamines. Jane Novak, an actress of Czech descent and who appeared in a number of movies with William S. Hart, is the perfect, demure All-American girl which makes her fate all the more disturbing. Wallace Beery is well known for his later sound movies but he was a first class silent film actor whose facial expressions are a joy to behold. In fact the final sequence between him as the U-boat captain and Hobart Bosworth is just simply delicious. Although other reviewers may tell you Beery's fate, I won't. However it has to do with the film's title and that Bosworth's civilian occupation was as a taxidermist. If that doesn't make you want to see it, then I don't know what will. Additional bonuses include the film's Russian print which is slightly different and how BEHIND THE DOOR was restored...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Oscar Krug returns to his home in Maine after being at sea for a number of years. He reminisces back to just before the war broke out, when he was in love with Alice Morse, daughter of the local banker. Being German, Krug was falsely accused of being sympathetic to the enemy. He enlisted, secretly married Alice, and became Captain of a merchant marine ship. Alice came aboard the ship, which was eventually sunk by a German U-boat. Krug and Alice survived, but the German commander took Alice aboard his vessel, leaving Oscar adrift. Krug swore to the German that he would get revenge. A few months later, Krug's ship fired on a U-boat. Krug recognized the Captain and saved him, although the Captain did not recognize Krug. Krug plied him with liquor and pretended to be a German sympathizer, in order to discover what had happened to Alice. Krug then took his vengeance in a most horrible manner.

This is a stunning piece of work. It begins with ordinary life in a Maine seaport, and lulls the viewer into believing this will just be another romance. The film takes a sharp turn into tragedy, and builds to a grotesque conclusion - strong stuff for any time period, let alone 1919. Bosworth, though perhaps a bit too old for the lead (he was over 50), nevertheless is a commanding presence on screen. The sequence where he elicits the truth from Beery is alone worth the price of admission. The title refers to what happened to Beery "behind the door."

Although the movie has clearly deteriorated in spots, the restoration for the most part is crisp. The few inserted stills do not interfere or detract in any way. At seventy minutes, the film moves briskly without any slow spots. The photography is excellent.

I'm so happy this film was (nearly) fully restored in 2016, because it's such a little gem. I thought my interest might be strongest in how it showed how wrong it was for a German-American man to be assailed by a mob when America entered WWI, but as it turned out, the absolutely macabre events towards the end topped that, bringing to mind Edgar Allen Poe, Tod Browning, or hell, maybe even Quentin Tarantino given his love for cinematic vengeance.

To get there you'll have to swallow a ridiculous premise, that a woman could stow away aboard a naval vessel before it embarked for the war, and that she would be kidnapped by the Germans, but I didn't mind. The film meanders through themes of forbidden romance, what it means to be "American," and warfare, but it moves well (especially for a film from 1919) and has a strong cast. I was then floored by just how dark it got, and not once, but twice. Finishes strong too.

One cannot say there weren't any flaws in either the plot or production - among them, the blatant fact the Bosworth is way too old for his leading role, to be too convincing (he was in between 51 and 52, when this was shot!) - the first time you realize how wrinkly both his face and hands are, I'm sure you'll agree with me! Not that being old is a fault on its own right, it's just that we end up feeling the rather heroic role cries out for a younger thespian, no doubt about it.

Also, as I seasoned photographer, I feel the "restored" print (a restoration apparently endorsed by The Library of Congress) could have been, well, more properly restored: on some scenes where the celluloid stuck for many consecutive frames and decay is quite obvious, I feel they missed on the opportunity to simply pick the best frames where some still scenery was not affected by it and simply clone it, just like we photographers do to photographs where there are good and bad ones in a series! When I have the time, I'm going to open some of these frames on Photoshop and intend to prove this theory of mine! But back to the film itself, I found it a touch of genius of how, only in the end we come across the reason for the title (I was starting to wonder if it would ever show up) - very clever indeed - and scary too! Hence my dutifully adding "Thriller" to its genre which, by the time I wrote this, was absent from this IMDb entry.

Saw what may be the last exhibition of this film last Saturday (5-8-04) in Rome, NY. Film has been pieced together from several sources. Quality varies from excellent to barely discernible images, with a few scenes entirely missing (Library of Congress Reconstruction).

I was amazed at the intensity of this story. It was very obviously influenced by World War I, the German Submariners are shown to be absolute amoral barbarians, but the film is amazing in its craft and impact.

The print which we saw is said to be the only one outside of Russia (see below), and its condition is such that Library of Congress has pulled it from exhibition. The Rome, NY showing was the last booked.

I understand that a negative was made from this print, however there are no prints available at the present time.

Another complete print of the film is said to exist in Russia, with Russian titles, but no more information was given.

I was amazed at how rapidly the story moved. 70 minutes felt like 45!

If you have a chance to see this film, DO! You won't forget it.