Entre Portas Fechadas

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.

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.

The attraction here is not just Barbara Stanwyck, even though it's her first talkie and she handles her role with a secure professionalism that belies her cinematic inexperience. Born for the camera she was! But an equally impressive performance is delivered by Rod La Rocque as the serial cad who mistreats her and then sets his sights on her younger sister. The trappings are typical 20's soap opera/melodrama, in this case derived from a stage play. But not typical for the era is La Rocque's well-tailored villain who seems to have stepped out of a story from a much later era; in fact, his performance would not be considered one bit dated even by today's standards - highly unusual for a film from 1929. His line readings and body language bespeak a decadent, spoiled rogue without a scintilla of conscience, all of this enhanced by delicately tapered sideburns. He also has a smooth, deep speaking voice. The look and style of the film are standard for the era but include an interesting, lively panoramic dance party sequence on a "drinking boat" (pleasure boats that sailed outside the 12-mile limit of the US coast so the patrons could drink alcohol illegally during the Prohibition era) intercut with an intimate scene between Stanwyck and La Rocque in one of the cabins.

Barbara Stanwyck stars as Ann Carter, recently married to Lawrence Reagan (William Boyd). Their matrimonial bliss is disturbed by the appearance of Frank Devereaux (Rod La Rocque), a sleazy cad and serial womanizer who shared an embarrassing incident with Ann a year ago. When Ann learns that Devereaux has designs on Lawrence's young sister Helen (Betty Bronson), she decides to meet with Devereaux and try to keep him away from the young girl. This leads to scandal and tragedy.

Stanwyck was only 22 here, and this is her first starring role (she appeared as an uncredited showgirl in 1927's Broadway Nights). She's cute with dark hair and a baby face, and she's already exhibiting her star appeal. The Pre-Code story elements include traveling to an offshore "rum boat" (where a young Paulette Goddard is supposedly among the extras), implied forced sex, and Stanwyck spending a bit of screentime in a torn dress. La Rocque steals the film, though, as the dapper skirt-chaser who stays one step ahead of the cuckolded husbands left in his wake. He's detestable and funny at the same time.

This does show its early talkie roots though, with a dying scene that is so prolonged and talkie I'm surprised those surrounding the dying man don't start looking for a blunt instrument to end things. The overall effort is OK, but then again - Joe Schenck cut Buster Keaton loose to concentrate on films like this??? I guess you had to be there.