Entre Portas Fechadas

Other than the fact that this was Barbara Stanwyck's second film and talkie debut, believe me there isn't any other reason to remember The Locked Door. It's a rather turgid melodrama with some stock company heroes and villains. It might very well have been a play on the Cotton Blossom, but for its urban setting.

Barbara Stanwyck showed something in this film though, she wouldn't have had the career she had if she didn't. You can definitely spot the star quality with her.

The film is based on a Broadway play by Channing Pollock that ran 187 performances during the 1919-1920 season. The subject of Prohibition was new at that time, by 1929 it was old hat. In any event it's only part of the story.

Stanwyck and Snidely Whiplash villain Rod LaRocque are on a floating gambling and drinking boat when it's raided. They both jump bail and go their separate ways, Stanwyck thanking the Deity she had no further involvement with LaRocque.

But that's not what fate has in store for her. She marries William Boyd, a widower with daughter Betty Bronson. Guess who Bronson tells dear old Dad and step mom who she's involved with.

When both Stanwyck and Boyd go to confront LaRocque, but separately, that's when the action really starts.

One thing I will say in favor of the film, the camera work reminded me a whole lot of Alfred Hitchcock's famous one set films, Rear Window and Rope, because the story takes place in the last half in LaRocque's apartment. But the hammy acting and melodramatic plot date this film terribly.

Still Barbara Stanwyck's personality certainly stands out.

Stagy but clever murder mystery with Barbara Stanwyck in her talkie debut and the center of attention.

The copy I have has a missing scene but this is still an effective if stagy and slightly hammy film.

Stanwyck is a secretary who goes to a boat party with the boss's son and maybe gets raped (that scene is missing) and raided by the police. She and the son skip bail and disappear. 18 months later we find Stanwyck happily married to a wealthy man (William Boyd) when his sister's new boy friend shows up. Yup it's the sleazy son (Rod LaRocque) with a new name. The sister (Betty Bronson) is gaga over him but Stanwyck is horrified.

Stanwyck overhears their plans to run off to Honolulu so she decides to pay LaRocque a visit. But unbeknown to her, her husband is also planning a visit because he has been warned about the boy friend.

Stanwyck arrives at LaRocque's apartment and starts a fight but is interrupted when the husband arrives. The guys scuffle and a gun goes off. Husband leaves and locks the door, trapping Stanwyck (hiding in a bedroom) in the apartment with the corpse. She thinks fast, rips her dress and calls the operator, pretending to fend off an attacker and firing the gun.

Both Stanwyck and Boyd eventually admit to the killing but then Bronson shows up.....

Supporting cast includes Zasu Pitts as the operator, Mack Swain as the manager, George Bunny as the valet, Purnell Pratt is a police man, and Harry Stubbs is the surprising waiter.

Neat little film apparently lost for decades.

Other comments mention some innovative camera work in this film, but what you'll remember first is the stiff, stagy acting. And yet, you'll keep watching right up to the ridiculous deus-ex-machina ending because the movie isn't terrible enough to make you turn it off. And there are some points of interest.

One, oddly enough, is the set. Devereaux's bachelor pad has Gothic architectural details worthy of Dracula's castle. Funny that as a playboy with no visible means of support (blackmail, perhaps), he should be able to afford such a magnificent place.

Another would be Barbara Stanwyck with a horrendous 1920's hairdo, overacting like she probably never did again. I never believed that she would be so much in love with a husband who looks twice her age and has all the passion and animation of a dead codfish.

Another would be the villain of the piece, played by Rod La Roque as the ultimate lounge lizard with the a perfectly sleazy pencil-thin mustache and a leering, mocking manner to match. But I believed all that far more than I believed his change of heart at the end.

And finally, standing out like a beacon among the minor players, is Zazu Pitts as the ditsy switchboard operator. Very funny.

Someone referred to this as "stagy," and was more correct than perhaps he knew: "The Locked Door" was originally a stage play, and this movie was an adaptation, a good one in my opinion.

C. Gardner Sullivan had been writing scenarios and inter-titles since at least 1912, and is honored among aficionados who know his work from those earliest years of motion pictures.

The four top-billed players were also veterans, except for Barbara Stanwyck who has only one previous credit.

Rod La Rocque had been in movies since at least 1914, and put in 12 more years.

Betty Bronson became a huge star with her seventh role, Peter Pan in the movie of that name, and reportedly was chosen for the part by James M. Barrie, the author, himself.

William Boyd, known here at IMDb as "William 'Stage' Boyd," is the primary reason the Screen Actors Guild usually forbids a member having the same name as another, Harrison Ford being the only exception that comes immediately to my mind.

This particular Boyd was busted on something shameful and the picture of "the other" William Boyd, who later became very famous as Hopalong Cassidy, was published in a newspaper, almost destroying his career.

In this cast there are lots of "withs" who help make this a very good movie, including Mack Swain and Zasu Pitts.

The story is not really a mystery, at least not to us, because we see everything that happens, but it is a drama, with conflict and character change.

I'm reminded of the aphorism that people in small towns buy their local paper not to see who did what, because everyone knows, but to see who gets blamed.

That's the premise of this story, and it's well done, plausible by the standards of its time.

There is also a good point for modern society: Laws against consensual acts, such as gambling or ingestion of certain substances, in this case, alcohol, cause more problems than they solve.

"The Locked Door" is good cinema, especially for anyone who wants to watch the evolution of the art.

Handsome but oily playboy Rod La Rocque (as Frank Devereaux) takes secretary Barbara Stanwyck (as Ann Carter) on a Prohibition-era cruise aboard a boozy gambling boat. He locks their cabin door for dinner and sex, but a police raid saves Ms. Stanwyck from date rape. Eighteen months later, Stanwyck has happily married well-heeled William Boyd (as Lawrence "Larry" Reagan). Then, Stanwyck is shocked to discover Mr. La Rocque is charming cute sister-in-law Betty Bronson (Helen). Stanwyck wants La Rocque to hit the road without Ms. Bronson, so he threatens to reveal her participation on the opening cruise.

Director George Fitzmaurice does his best maneuvering everyone around the early sound-equipped stages.

Viewers in 1929 likely remembered the original "The Sign on the Door" (1921) starring Norma Talmadge and Lew Cody in the Stanwyck and La Rocque roles; this film survives, but has not been released. La Rocque, a popular cad, and perky "Peter Pan" star Bronson were likely the main draws in this "All Talking!" re-make. Now, it's seen as the first big role for Stanwyck. Unafraid to repeatedly show her underwear, Stanwyck is bold but inexperienced. Bronson measures theatrical. La Rocque is at his smarmy best, and Mr. Boyd lends good support. Telephone operator Zasu Pitts and dumb waiter Harry Stubbs provide comic relief.

***** The Locked Door (11/16/29) George Fitzmaurice ~ Barbara Stanwyck, Rod La Rocque, William 'Stage' Boyd, Betty Bronson