Prisons d'enfants

I love the homo-erotic nature of this film, especially because of the time it was made. Unfortunately Bette Davis does not have a big part, though it is still important. What this boy goes through just because he is naive is a tragedy. This film is hard to find but I recommend searching for it. The story is original and daring. The loss of innocence is heartbreaking and must be seen for yourself.

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" (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)

The reviews for this film posted here (quite a large number) reflect badly not on the movie, over 90 years old now, but on the submitters. They take a high-handed tone as if the movie had been shot recently, reflecting/comparing it to current budgets, techniques, sensibilities. I'd hate to see their reactions to silent films, only four or five years earlier than this one.

Silent Era Pathos was a formidable approach to movie making a hundred years ago, from Chaplin to Borzage, and a surefire way of captivating an audience. The simplicity of "Hell's House" in aiming for pathos is its strength, not a weakness, and its lack of flashiness (in camerawork or other techniques) is because it's not an All-Star big-budget picture or a musical extravaganza.

I truly enjoyed this simplicity, the unaffected performance by Junior, who resembles a young Sean Penn. The immense charisma bursting from stars Pat O'Brien (perfectly cast as the glad-handing con man) and just starting out Bette Davis balances the downbeat subject matter. Director/story writer Howard Higgin makes his point on prison reform -reform school subset here - without sensationalism, while obviously today's audience is looking for an exploitation movie approach a la Reefer Madness.

One sidelight: the young Bette Davis is a dead ringer (no pun intended) for current porn starlet Chloe Cherry, an amazing resemblance I hadn't noted even after seeing dozens of Cherry's videos, probably because in my mind's eye I imagine Davis with her iconic look years later in her career. Chloe's star quality has served her well, as she is one of the rare actresses to make a name for herself in the mainstream (via "Euphoria" and social media) after being pigeonholed in the still-looked down upon porn industry.

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.