The Doorway to Hell (1930)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

. . . Warner Bros.' warning to We Americans of the 21st Century about our Deplorable Political Class, as dissected in THE DOORWAY TO HELL. Even copper "Pat O'Grady" admits in the end to the doomed "Louie" that the police of America's then incipient Fat Cat State are as much of a "public menace" as the kid-killing gangs led by "Rocco" and "Midget." As always, Warner's team of alarm-sounding prognosticators serves as Our Extreme Early Warning System, uncannily accurate in throwing Louie's kid brother "Jackie" under the truck to not only advance the plot in THE DOORWAY TO HELL, but also to forecast the plot of Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin's stooges in his Fifth Columnist Fellow-Traveling Pedophiliac Repug Party (aka, The GOOPERS) of actually--in this Our Real Life--throwing 10 MILLION of the USA's Poor Kids under the proverbial bus by eliminating America's long-standing "CHIP" Health Care Program in December, 2017, so that Putin's White House Sock-Puppet-in-Chief Don Juan Rump can send to U.S. taxpayer funds "saved" by these Repug Kid Killings directly to the Kremlin in the form of gold bars from Fort Knox. That the Demo-Rats twiddle their tails while this and countless other outrages are taking place under their snouts is NOT surprising to viewers watching THE DOORWAY TO HELL slam tight shut behind America. This flick shows that that cursed portal is plenty wide enough for ALL the Fat Cat Washington, DC, Gang Bosses to slop through!

A fairly good early talkie gangster flick. I caught this film on TCM late last night and was thoroughly entertained by it. It only had a few faults typical of films of the early talkie period.The basic story is about a young mob boss Louie Ricarno(Lew Ayres) who through intimidation unites the gangs in the city for which he collects his percentage and piece reins in the city under his stewardship. He then gets married to Doris(Dorothy Mathews) and retires to Florida to write and play golf he leaves the syndicate in the hands of his right hand man Steve Mileaway(James Cagney) but soon the gangs are again warring and Louie for family reasons must return to the city and deal with the situation.The film is well directed and the acting particularly Cagney's is a forerunner of his future career as a film tough. I think Ayres did a decent job in the lead role remember he was only 22 when he made this film but he is able to make Louie feel like he is the boss of the city. There is also a great gang fight scene at a local brewery this is one part where Archie Mayo gets a little lazy and only shoots the great action from one camera location at long distance. This could have been a great scene if he would have got up close and personal.Grade B

The Doorway to Hell is yet another step up the ladder for James Cagney as the Brothers Warner discover that the guy they signed for a one shot deal to repeat his stage role from Penny Arcade was in fact future star material. He was certainly unlike some of the classical emoting stars from the silent period, unlike anything that ever had been on screen before.Lew Ayres is the lead in this film, Cagney's his chief henchman. Ayres is an ambitious guy who's determined to bring a little organization to the bootleg booze business in his city. And then as soon as he gets it going, he quits. He wants to spend time on the golf course and with his new wife. The wife, Dorothy Matthews, is bored with early retirement mainly because she's been two timing Ayres with Cagney and Cagney's not around.The story is pretty silly in any number of ways. First the various mob heads resent Ayres taking over, then they resent when he leaves. Secondly, it's not made clear at all why Cagney isn't capable of running this thing by himself, he sure looks capable enough. And the plot where two of the gangsters have the brilliant idea to kidnap Ayres's little brother from military school to bring him back is frighteningly stupid.Ayres, Cagney, Matthews and the rest muddle through this dumb mess. Ayres was already a star due to All Quiet on the Western Front. And Cagney you had no doubt was going to be a star if the right vehicle was found for him. Even if Cagney had been in Ayres's role, I'm not sure The Doorway To Hell would have been it.

This is truly a great film and was very well produced considering it was in the early 30's. Lew Ayres(Louie Ricarno),"Calling Dr. Kildare",'38, was a crook trying to go straight and start a new life for himself and did everything to protect James Cagney,(Steve Mileaway),"The Public Enemy",'31, who was a fellow side kick in the rackets and was also fooling around with his wife. Louie's wife decided that by taking off her wedding ring it made it legal for her to fool around, which must have shocked the audiences of the 1930's. All these actors were just starting their careers in this film and gangster films were very popular. If you look close, you will also see Dwight Frye (Monk, a gangster),"Frankenstein",'31 and Ward Bond(a policeman that was uncredited in this picture) Ward Bond appeared in many of John Wayne Western Films. The producer of this film wanted the public to realize that "CRIME DOES NOT PAY".