La porte du diable

"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.

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 .

Another strong western by Anthony Mann.But like any intelligent western,this story is eternal.A man who fought for his country and who is denied the most legitimate of all his rights,just because he is an Indian:to own a little bit of the land to which he had given the most beautiful years of his life.That was the story of Mervyn Le Roy's "I'm fugitive from a chain gang" when Paul Muni was trying to sell his medals to survive.That would be the story of Liam Neeson in "Suspect" ,once a Vietnam veteran,now one of the last lonely and wretched .

Robert Taylor is extremely convincing,mainly when he is speaking of the land,of the way the Indians love it,of their communion with nature. We find the same emotion in Delmer Daves' "Broken arrow" ,released the same year.

Devil's Doorway is directed by Anthony Mann. It stars Robert Taylor as Lance Poole, a Shoshone Indian who returns home to Medicine-Bow from the American Civil War after a three year stint, and a veteran of three major conflicts. Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor he rightfully expects to be able to retire to a peaceful life back on the family land. However, all his hopes and dreams are shattered by bigotry and greed as new laws are ushered in to deprive the Native Indians land rights.

Biting and cutting, Devil's Doorway is a Civil Rights Western that, boldly for its time, looks at the injustices done to Native Americans. Very much grim in texture, it's no surprise to see Anthony Mann at the helm for this material. Mann of course would go on to become a Western genre darling for his run of "Adult Westerns" he would do with James Stewart. Prior to this Mann had showed himself to have a keen eye for tough pieces with dark themes in a few well regarded film noir movies. So this was right up his street, in fact a glance at his output shows him to be something of a master when it comes to showing minority groups sympathetically. MGM were nervous tho, unsure as if taking the Western in this direction was the way to go, they pulled it from release in 1949. But after the impact that Delmer Daves' similar themed Broken Arrow made the following year, they ushered it out and the film promptly got lost amongst the plaudits for the James Stewart starrer. That's a shame because this is fit to sit alongside the best work Mann has done.

Filmed in black & white, the film has beautiful landscapes that belie the bleak road the movie ultimately turns down. Shot on location at Aspen and Grand Junction in Colorado (the talented John Alton on cinematography), the film also manages to rise above its obvious eyebrow raising piece of casting. Robert Taylor always had his critics, hell I'm sometimes one of them, but here as he is cast against type as a Shoshone Indian, he gives the character conviction and a stoic nobility that really makes it work. Some of his scenes with the beautiful Paula Raymond (playing his lawyer Orrie Masters) are a lesson in maximum impact garnered from emotional restraint. You will be aware of the fluctuating skin pigmentation he has throughout the movie, but honestly look into his eyes and feel the confliction and loyalty and you really will not care.

Scripted by Guy Trosper (Birdman of Alcatraz), the screenplay is unflinching in showing how badly the Native Americans were treated. Throw that in with Alton's other gift, that of the dusty barren land shot, and you got a very film noir feel to the movie. Something which not only is unique, but something that also showed a shift in the Hollywood Oater. We now get brains to match the action and aesthetics of the Western movie. Not that this is found wanting for action, Mann doesn't short change here either, with a dynamite led offensive purely adrenaline pumping.

A fine fine movie, an important movie in fact. One that is in desperate need of more exposure. Still awaiting a widespread home format disc release, I quote Orrie Masters from the movie..."It would be too bad if we ever forget".... that applies to both the theme of the piece and the actual movie itself. 9/10

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?