Crime

Drama

The Doorway to Hell

The Vitaphone Corporation

Warner Bros. Pictures

United States of America

English

Lew Ayres

Dorothy Mathews

Leon Janney

Robert Elliott

James Cagney

Kenneth Thomson

Jerry Mandy

Noel Madison

Edwin Argus

Eddie Kane

Tom Wilson

Dwight Frye

Fred Argus

Marie Astaire

Elmer Ballard

Joe Bordeaux

Clark Burroughs

Nick Copeland

Bernard Granville

Ruth Hall

Eddie Hart

Al Hill

Thomas E. Jackson

John Kelly

Gus Leonard

Larry McGrath

Collette Merton

Eddie Moran

Dick Purcell

George Rosener

Cliff Saum

Tony Stabenau

Jack Wise

Archie Mayo

Barney McGill

Rowland Brown

Darryl F. Zanuck

Robert O. Crandall

Earl Luick

Perc Westmore

Charles David Forrest

Erno Rapee

Louis Silvers

Leo F. Forbstein

CinemaSerf

With Chicago effectively a lawless city controlled by warring gangsters fighting over their turf and their lucrative prohibition income, opportunistic “Louie” (Lew Ayres) sees an opportunity to centralise things. A meeting, a few machine guns, and some sheer brass neck soon sees him running the racketeers and presiding over an unusually peaceful city. Then he marries his sweetheart “Doris” (Dorothy Matthews) and has something of an epiphany. He wants to hand over the reins to his deputy “Mileaway” (James Cagney) and retire to the panhandle for some well earned rest and recuperation. Without him holding down the truce, things at home start to unravel but can he stay away and enjoy his new life, or will he be unable to resist the magnetic attraction of his old job? I thought Ayres did quite well here. He brings a handsome prince sort of glamour to the role, sure, but he also suggest something of the charismatic courage and menace that his character would have required to glue together his enemies into something effective, even if it was precarious. Cagney also serves well as his deputy/foil; Matthews adds a little more than just the typical bimbo/moll and the whole film has a certain grittiness to it that I found plausible, and towards the conclusion, even touching. It’s not frightened of livening things up, either, with plenty of action and quite an excitingly filmed prison escape too. It’s a well told story of addictions and of the struggles to control them, and with Tom Wilson stealing a few scenes as the never more than temporarily trustworthy “Big Shot Kelly” I found it well worth eighty minutes.

"The Doorway To Hell" 1930: The Trailer.

Best Movies

The Doorway to Hell

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Lew Ayres

Dorothy Mathews

Leon Janney

Robert Elliott

James Cagney

Kenneth Thomson

Jerry Mandy

Noel Madison

Edwin Argus

Eddie Kane

Box office

More Like This

Boyz n the Hood

Out of the Past

GoodFellas

Men Call It Love

Dogville

City of God

La leggenda del bandito e del campione

Gangs of New York