Il passo del diavolo

"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.

ROBERT TAYLOR, grim-faced and painted to look like an Indian, gives a strong performance in Anthony Mann's examination of the plight of American Indians and their mistreatment in DEVIL'S DOORWAY.

Although he's a winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor after his victorious conduct in war, he doesn't get the welcome he expects when he returns to his home state of Wyoming where EDGAR BUCHANAN is the Sheriff who warns him that he's naive if he thinks he can find a welcome mat for Indians at any bar.

PAULA RAYMOND is the pretty lawyer who tries to help Taylor when her mother (SPRING BYINGTON) reminds her that that's what her dad would do. But nobody can stop evil lawyer LOUIS CALHERN from spreading false and malicious gossip that poisons the mind of the homesteaders who want a piece of Taylor's land.

It's a grim story, beautifully photographed with stunning B&W western landscapes filling the eye with their grandeur. All of the performances are expert and the climactic battle with men foolishly following Calhern's orders is photographed for stunning impact.

Told in a tense 85 minutes, it's a film worth viewing and one that was ahead of its time in dealing with the plight of American Indians in a realistic way.

While some might balk at the idea of Robert Taylor playing an American Indian, such casting was pretty typical of this era--with folks like Rock Hudson and Paul Newman cast as Indians as well! Plus, while the casting is poor, the film does have a lot in its favor. The biggest plus is that the American Indian is portrayed VERY sympathetically here and is a film about intolerance and prejudice--and makes some excellent points to counter the prevailing "evil and stupid Indian" image many films of the day. Plus, although Taylor is an Anglo with an aquiline nose and blue eyes, the film manages to have him appear rather Indian-like--and his craggy middle-aged good looks helped--along with gobs of skin paint! I cannot speak for American Indians, but I assume most would appreciate the film's message and overlook the casting--as there simply wasn't any better sort of film about them made at the time--and very, very few since.

The film begins with Taylor returning home after several years absence serving in the Union army during the Civil War. Along the way, he developed a bit of naiveté and assumes his being a sergeant in the military and living out the White American dream that he'd be accorded respect and equal treatment at home. However, there's an ill-will brewing and instead of receiving honor for his service (which had earned him the Medal of Honor--the nation's highest military award), he will face a lot of unreasoning hate. At the heart of this is a scum-bag lawyer (imagine that!) who is bent on stirring up the Whites against the Indians--mostly so he man make himself rich in the process.

I could say more to the plot, as there is quite a bit more to the film, but I really don't want to spoil the film. Suffice to say that it is very well written--mostly because it is NOT a movie with a clear message that the settlers were all evil and the Shoshone were perfect and noble. I liked this, as both sides had a point--though the Natives clearly were having their rights cast aside in the process. The characters, as a result, were multidimensional and interesting.

Overall, if you are a bit tired of cookie-cutter westerns and are looking for something a bit different, "Devil's Doorway" is a pretty good bet.

I just discovered this movie and checked it out because I'm a Robert Taylor fan. I soon got caught up in the story, which was a good one, but not the movie to watch if you're feeling a bit down and want something to help cheer you. (And if you're looking for the typical Hollywood happy ending, forget it.)

I wish I could forget the truths in this film, as they're far from pretty. As RT's character, Shoshone Native lance Poole discovers, fighting for his country in the Civil War, showing bravery in several famous battles, and winning the Congressional Medal of Honor won't make one bit of difference to the people who won't accept him in society, oppose his owning land and living among them, and wanting him to go to a reservation, where they believe he belongs. He was good enough to fight for his country, yet that same country repays him with bigotry, unfair laws, and social stigma. (A doctor won't treat his ill father, he's refused service in a saloon, and lawyer Verne Coolan (Louis Calhern) uses a loophole in the law to take away Lance's property, preventing him from homesteading.

Lance refuses to give up his land, and lets Verne know he'll have a fight in his hands. He finds an ally in Orrie Masters (Paula Raymond), a woman lawyer who tries to help him. (Her mother is played by Spring Byington, who gives a bit of comic relief to an otherwise downer tale.) In a surprising twist, she's shown respect for her legal expertise, and is accepted as having a most unusual career for a woman in the 1860's; no one's telling her to get a husband and have babies. (Though you get the impression that, had society been different and not put so many obstacles in their path, she may have wanted a home and children with Lance.)

Orrie tries helping Lance, by getting a petition together, to try and overturn the law, and when that fails, and Verne and a band of sheepherders try to force Lance off his land (he's supported a Shoshone tribesmen), Orrie calls in the Cavalry, hoping to put an end to the fighting, but instead they side with Verne, feeling the law must be upheld.

I won't give anymore away, I'll just say that the movie makes you think about how foolish people can be, and how ironic it is that Native people were made to feel unwelcome in a country that was theirs to begin with.