Devil's Doorway (1950)

84 mins | Western | September 1950

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writer:

Guy Trosper

Producer:

Nicholas Nayfack

Cinematographer:

John Alton

Production Designers:

Cedric Gibbons, Leonid Vasian

Production Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
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HISTORY

Two HR production charts in mid-Sep 1949 referred to this film as Devil's Holiday. Although a Sep 1949 DV news item states that Frank McGrath was cast in this film, his participation in the released film has not been confirmed. That same news item adds that location shooting was done around Grand Junction, Colorado. ...

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Two HR production charts in mid-Sep 1949 referred to this film as Devil's Holiday. Although a Sep 1949 DV news item states that Frank McGrath was cast in this film, his participation in the released film has not been confirmed. That same news item adds that location shooting was done around Grand Junction, Colorado.

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GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS
SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Box Office
13 May 1950
---
Daily Variety
14 Sep 1949
p. 2
Daily Variety
15 May 1950
p. 3
Film Daily
18 May 1950
p. 6
Hollywood Reporter
12 Aug 1949
p. 11, 12
Hollywood Reporter
9 Sep 1949
p. 12
Hollywood Reporter
7 Oct 1949
p. 10
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
6 May 1950
p. 287
New York Times
10 Nov 1950
p. 35
Variety
17 May 1950
p. 6
CAST
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTORS
Reggie Callow
Asst dir
PRODUCER
WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY
Dir of photog
ART DIRECTORS
Art dir
Art dir
FILM EDITOR
SET DECORATORS
Set dec
COSTUMES
SOUND
Rec supv
VISUAL EFFECTS
MAKEUP
Hairstyles des by
Makeup created by
DETAILS
Alternate Title:
Devil's Holiday
Release Date:
September 1950
Production Date:
15 Aug--mid Oct 1949
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
Loew's Inc.
12 May 1950
LP115
Physical Properties:
Sound
Western Electric Sound System
Black and White
Duration(in mins):
84
Length(in feet):
7,590
Length(in reels):
9
Country:
United States
PCA No:
14216
Passed by NBR:
Yes
SYNOPSIS

Lance Poole, a Shoshone Indian, returns to his home in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, having won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the Civil War. Despite his honorable war record, Lance is shunned by the white townspeople, who bear a grudge against him and his father because of their hold on the richest land in the region. Lance becomes embittered against the white men in Medicine Bow after his father dies because a white doctor refused him prompt medical attention after Lance himself is refused service at a local saloon. When Verne Coolan, a prejudiced lawyer, threatens to take Lance's land away under a new homesteading law, Lance hires Orrie Masters, a female attorney who has recently settled in Medicine Bow, to take his case. Complications soon arise when Lance discovers that, as a ward of the government, he is not entitled to file a claim to keep his land. Orrie tries to circumvent the homesteading law by circulating a petition to allow Lance to keep at least a portion of his land, but Coolan thwarts her attempt by spreading word through town that Lance has killed one of his men. Coolan then assembles an army composed of sheepherders to take the land by force, and a bloody battle ensues. Having suffered great losses in the battle, Lance and his Shoshone Indian fighters take refuge in Lance's cabin, and quickly turn it into a makeshift fortress. After calling in U.S. Cavalry troops and negotiating a truce with the sheepherders, Orrie makes an unsuccessful attempt to persuade Lance to give up his losing fight. Lance refuses to heed Orrie's advice, insisting that it would be shameful to ...

More Less

Lance Poole, a Shoshone Indian, returns to his home in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, having won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the Civil War. Despite his honorable war record, Lance is shunned by the white townspeople, who bear a grudge against him and his father because of their hold on the richest land in the region. Lance becomes embittered against the white men in Medicine Bow after his father dies because a white doctor refused him prompt medical attention after Lance himself is refused service at a local saloon. When Verne Coolan, a prejudiced lawyer, threatens to take Lance's land away under a new homesteading law, Lance hires Orrie Masters, a female attorney who has recently settled in Medicine Bow, to take his case. Complications soon arise when Lance discovers that, as a ward of the government, he is not entitled to file a claim to keep his land. Orrie tries to circumvent the homesteading law by circulating a petition to allow Lance to keep at least a portion of his land, but Coolan thwarts her attempt by spreading word through town that Lance has killed one of his men. Coolan then assembles an army composed of sheepherders to take the land by force, and a bloody battle ensues. Having suffered great losses in the battle, Lance and his Shoshone Indian fighters take refuge in Lance's cabin, and quickly turn it into a makeshift fortress. After calling in U.S. Cavalry troops and negotiating a truce with the sheepherders, Orrie makes an unsuccessful attempt to persuade Lance to give up his losing fight. Lance refuses to heed Orrie's advice, insisting that it would be shameful to give up his land to the sheepherders, and continues the fight. Lance kills Coolan, but when the Cavalry fighters join the sheepherders, Lance's men are overwhelmed and forced to surrender. Lance is shot during one last skirmish and, in the final moments of his life, gives the Cavalry commander a farewell salute.

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Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.