''Devil's Doorway'' is a 1950 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. He came to prominence as a skilled director of ''Film noirs, film noir'' and Western film, Westerns, and for his Epic film ...

for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, and starring Robert Taylor,

Louis Calhern Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known by his stage name Louis Calhern, was an American actor. Described as a “star leading man of the theater and a star character actor of the screen,” he appeared in over 100 roles ...

and Paula Raymond. Taylor portrays a Native American who returns home from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

a hero, having been awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

. However, his hopes for a peaceful life are shattered by bigotry and greed. The only film project

Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known as an auteur of stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them for RKO Pictures, including ...

ever turned down in his whole career. The film was released to American theaters on September 15, 1950. It received positive reviews and was a commercial success.

Plot

Lance Poole, a

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

veteran of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and

recipient, returns to his home in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, to something a far cry from a hero's welcome. The mostly-white townspeople resent the fact that Poole and his father own a large and valuable piece of land. A doctor refuses to treat Poole's father, who dies, while Poole himself is unable to even buy a drink in the local saloon. Bigoted attorney Verne Coolan uses a loophole in a law regarding homesteaders to strip Poole of his property. Poole turns to a woman lawyer, Orrie Masters, for help, telling her, "It's hard to explain how an Indian feels about the land. ... My father said the Earth is our mother." However, she fails to acquire the necessary petition signatures they need to overturn the law. Coolan organizes sheepherders and attempts to drive out Poole by force.

tribesmen fight by Poole's side, using his cabin for a fort. Masters calls in the U.S. Cavalry to create a truce, only to have them side with Coolan and the town. It's a lost cause. Poole is at least able to kill Coolan, but not before being seriously wounded himself at the Shoshone barricade. Poole then turns the responsibility for the surviving women and children over to the only surviving male child, who leads them away from the barricade and presumably in the direction of the reservation. Afterward, Poole puts on his Civil War

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior Non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned Military rank, rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's ...

's uniform, and walks out to the cavalry commander and his former lawyer. The commander salutes Poole first, as that is the custom when greeting a Medal of Honor recipient. Poole then dies from his wounds.

Cast

* Robert Taylor as Lance Poole *

as Verne Coolan * Paula Raymond as Orrie Masters *

Marshall Thompson James Marshall Thompson (November 27, 1925Ancestry.com. ''U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Social Security Applications and Cla ...

as Rod MacDougall * James Mitchell as Red Rock *

Edgar Buchanan William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the '' Petticoat Junction'', '' Green Acres'', and '' The Bever ...

as Zeke Carmody * Rhys Williams as Scotty MacDougall *

Spring Byington Spring Dell Byington (October 17, 1886 – September 7, 1971) was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of '' December Bride''. She was an MGM contract player who appeared in films from the ...

as Mrs. Masters *

James Millican James Millican (February 17, 1910 – November 24, 1955) was an American actor with over 200 film appearances mostly in western movies. Millican was the son of Fred S. Millican, a circus owner, and Dorothy Millican. Millican was a clos ...

as Ike Stapleton * Bruce Cowling as Lieutenant Grimes *

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Along with Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber is one of the fathers of sword and sorcery. Life ...

as Mr. Poole *

Harry Tenbrook Harry Tenbrook (born Henry Olaf Hansen, 9 October 1887 – 4 September 1960) was a Norwegian-American film actor. Biography Henry Olaf Hansen was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. His family migrated to the United States in 1892. ...

as Townsman (uncredited)

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $1,349,000 in the US and Canada and $747,000 overseas, resulting in a profit of $25,000.

Critical response

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

called the movie a "whopping action film". He notes "''Devil's Doorway'', like the Twentieth Century-Fox picture of a few months back, '' Broken Arrow'', is a Western with a point of view that rattles some skeletons in our family closet. Robert Taylor may strike you as a rather peculiar choice to play a full-blooded Indian, but give the man credit for a forceful performance. Indeed, his is the only role that is not a stereotype. However, the other players give good performances even though they represent characters that are as much a part of the

film formula as horses and sagebrush."Crowther, Bosley
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', film review, November 10, 1950.

References

External links

* * * {{Anthony Mann 1950 films 1950 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Western (genre) cavalry films Revisionist Western (genre) films Films set in Wyoming Films shot in Colorado Films directed by Anthony Mann Films scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films