disinterested_spectator "Devil's Doorway" is one of those movies about Indians that is not much fun, because the movie cares more about showing us the mistreatment of the Indians at the hands of white men than with entertaining us in the traditional manner, such as by having the Indians scalping, raping, and otherwise terrorizing white settlers.Robert Taylor in redface plays Broken Lance, a Shoshone Indian who has just arrived back home in Wyoming after service in the Civil War fighting for the North, where he won the Medal of Honor. In other words, this movie lays it on pretty thick. He intends to return to his peaceful ways as a free range cattle rancher, but he finds he is beset by a bunch of white people that intend to homestead on his land and raise sheep.This is an interesting twist. First, in most movies where there is a clash between men who want an open range for their cattle and families that want to homestead, it is the homesteaders that are good and the cattlemen that are evil, as in "Shane" (1953). Second, in most movies where sheepherders come into conflict with cattlemen, it is the sheepherders that are good and the cattlemen that are, once again, evil. Glenn Ford seems to show up in a lot of these movies. He is said by villain cattleman Rod Steiger to have the smell of sheep about him in "Jubal" (1956), is the title character in "The Sheepman" (1958), and intervenes as a pastor/gunslinger on the side of the good sheepherders (some of whom are Indians) against the bad cattlemen in "Heaven with a Gun" (1969). So, it is strange that the good guy in Devil's Doorway is a free range cattleman pitted again evil homesteading sheepherders. In fact, if this good guy had not been an Indian at a time when audiences were ready for movies about how Indians were good and white people were bad, the reversal might not have worked. Actually, not much works in this movie in any event. It is tedious and boring, as are all moralistic, preachy movies.As long as the movie was going to be about injustice toward Indians, I suppose the producers figured they might as well put in a word for gender equality as well, though they would hardly have termed it as such in 1950. And so, Lance's lawyer ends up being a woman, who goes by the name of Masters (Paula Raymond). Actually, being a pretty white woman, her real function is tantalize the audience with a little unconsummated miscegenation.When Lance finds out from Masters that the law does not allow Indians to homestead, he berates her for her faith in the law, as a kind of religion, saying that when you have the law, you don't have to worry about your conscience. It tells you what is right and wrong and no more thinking is required. He sarcastically says he wishes he had something like that.This is immediately followed by a scene in which a pubescent boy staggers and then crawls toward Lance's house. It turns out that, like all boys, he had to go into the mountains with only a knife, no food or water, go above the snow line wearing only moccasins and a loin cloth, and come back with the talons of an eagle within three days, or he is not a man. When Masters says that this practice is cruel, Lance justifies this custom, saying it is necessary so that the tribe knows whether the boy can be depended on to fight.Needless to say, a lot of boys probably die in making this attempt. I just knew Masters was going to say, "It looks as though I have faith in my laws, and you have faith in yours. Neither one of us has to bother about our conscience." And Masters could also have noted that white men are pretty good at fighting, and they don't do that to their children. Amazingly enough, she makes no such remarks. There is probably a kind of bigotry of low expectations at work here. White civilization is held to the higher standards of reason and justice, whereas there is a tendency to think of the customs of primitive peoples as too precious to subject to any serious criticism, the result being that the people who made this movie seem to be oblivious to the irony of these scenes, even though they put the one right after the other. Maybe they were being extra subtle, allowing us to have a laugh at Lance's expense, but it sure doesn't feel that way.Before the movie is out, the chief villain, played by Louis Calhern, who was the one that instigated the sheepherders' attempt to homestead, is killed off. And Lance is killed off too, in part to show that he is too manly to yield or compromise, and in part to keep him and Masters from exchanging bodily fluids across racial lines.

MartinHafer While some might balk at the idea of Robert Taylor playing an American Indian, such casting was pretty typical of this era--with folks like Rock Hudson and Paul Newman cast as Indians as well! Plus, while the casting is poor, the film does have a lot in its favor. The biggest plus is that the American Indian is portrayed VERY sympathetically here and is a film about intolerance and prejudice--and makes some excellent points to counter the prevailing "evil and stupid Indian" image many films of the day. Plus, although Taylor is an Anglo with an aquiline nose and blue eyes, the film manages to have him appear rather Indian-like--and his craggy middle-aged good looks helped--along with gobs of skin paint! I cannot speak for American Indians, but I assume most would appreciate the film's message and overlook the casting--as there simply wasn't any better sort of film about them made at the time--and very, very few since.The film begins with Taylor returning home after several years absence serving in the Union army during the Civil War. Along the way, he developed a bit of naiveté and assumes his being a sergeant in the military and living out the White American dream that he'd be accorded respect and equal treatment at home. However, there's an ill-will brewing and instead of receiving honor for his service (which had earned him the Medal of Honor--the nation's highest military award), he will face a lot of unreasoning hate. At the heart of this is a scum-bag lawyer (imagine that!) who is bent on stirring up the Whites against the Indians--mostly so he man make himself rich in the process.I could say more to the plot, as there is quite a bit more to the film, but I really don't want to spoil the film. Suffice to say that it is very well written--mostly because it is NOT a movie with a clear message that the settlers were all evil and the Shoshone were perfect and noble. I liked this, as both sides had a point--though the Natives clearly were having their rights cast aside in the process. The characters, as a result, were multidimensional and interesting.Overall, if you are a bit tired of cookie-cutter westerns and are looking for something a bit different, "Devil's Doorway" is a pretty good bet.

edwagreen Despite a very good performance by Robert Taylor as a native Indian facing discrimination after his heroic war efforts during the Civil War, the film is a rather routine one.Louis Calhern plays the heavy here- an attorney full of prejudice who causes the tragedy to unfold in the Wyoming territory, after the civil war and the coming of the Homestead Act.It's usually a movie adage that never in the history of motion pictures has the cavalry ever been late. Too bad that those famous lines didn't work here.Spring Byington was probably ending her wonderful movie career dating back to the 1930's if not before. As the mother of the lawyer attempting to help the Taylor character, her part was rather wasted here. I guess that television would be more adventurous to her with the coming of "December Bride."Yes, we can identify this film with Wounded Knee and other outrages committed against minorities through the ages.

jenny6664 I made a copy of this movie when I saw it online. It was NOT, however, in black/white (as someone said); it was originally made in color, and has not been colorized.Robert Taylor was remarkable as Lance Poole; the only thing that bothered me were his incredibly beautiful blue eyes; he should have been wearing BROWN contacts! Paula Raymond was just perfect as the young lawyer who tried to help Lance keep his land, and Louis Calhern was so good that I still hate him! The movie was historically accurate, not the story line, but the way things occurred at the time that these events took place -- shortly after the Civil War! I don't think the fate of our Native American population can be compared in any way to that of the African/Americans, since they have come a long way and do take part in things happening here, both culturally and politically. Whereas the Indians have made little, if any progress, and even today the state of the reservations are disgraceful, and among the young men there is an unusually high rate of alcoholism and suicide.The movie was beautifully, and sensitively written and acted, and showed no bias whatsoever -- only the truth.I treasure my copy of Devil's Doorway and have looked for it on DVD, but so far, no luck.This is a marvelous western and ranks with the best! It seems strange it was only up for ONE nomination,which of course it never got! I am sure that anyone seeing it would not be able to forget it!