Devil's Doorway

Devil's Doorway is a very good film that is also interesting in historical context. Released in 1950, and directed by Anthony Mann, it is an early film to sympathize with American Indians.

Granted, the main character, a full-blooded Shoshone, is played by an Anglo actor, Robert Taylor (his real name was Spangler Arlington Brugh) but otherwise the film condemns racial prejudice and the lack of rights that Indians had in the Old West. It is also respectful of their cultural traditions.

Taylor is back from fighting in the Civil War, having won the Congressional Medal of Honor. His family operate a cattle ranch on prime grazing land. But the Homesteading Act will allow others to claim his land. He hires a lawyer (a woman, played by Paula Raymond) but she finds out that he can't file a claim, because as an Indian he's not considered an American citizen.

While there is plenty of action, including possibly an anachronistic use of dynamite, Devil's Doorway is a rare Western that features legal niceties. The villain, Louis Calhern, is also a lawyer.

I also found it interesting that the film teases a romance between Taylor and Raymond, but does not allow them to kiss. They get their mouths as close as possible, but Taylor points out that that would be forbidden by the dictates of the time. I wonder if in 1950 it was still forbidden.

As I watched this film, I realized given the history this film could not have a happy ending, as racial animus and the lack of rights for Indians did not magically vanish, but took years of change (and some would argue it's still not set right). But it's a hard-hitting film, and not the kind of Western that is viewed as escape