. . . 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!

Plot-- A youthful gangster consolidates warring mobs in his city, turning them into a single money-making gang. Successful now, he retires with his wife (Mathews) to a golf course in Florida. But can he stay retired when rivalries again break out.Love those head-hugging cloche hats the women wear. Nothing says 20's flappers quite like that fashion. The movie may be an antique, but for a gangster film what it crucially lacks is needed grit. I'm guessing the boyishly handsome Ayers was cast as head gangster because he's supposed to be somewhat sympathetic in a way that the formidable Cagney, for example, wouldn't. Trouble is Ayers is too soft looking to be credible on the ruthless gangster side. Instead, he found his niche as the wholesome Dr. Kildare in that popular movie series.(Can't help noticing Ayers looks facially like his contemporary John Wayne then making oaters for Lone Star. See if you agree.).Except for Cagney, the supporting cast remains obscure, maybe even for that time. Mathews, the feminine lead, hasn't much to do except cuddle covertly with Cagney. In fact, women scarcely appear at all. As a whole the movie's none too convincing, unlike Public Enemy, a year later. However, the script is pre-Code so the line between cops and robbers is none too clear, while Mathews' infidelity goes unpunished. On the other hand, the pacing lacks needed snap in the slower manner of the 20's. Anyway, it's not hard to see why this gangster epic is not grouped with the classics of the day. But it does have its moments, like that deadly underside of a big truck.

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 a very early talkie gangster film. Because it was made only a few years after talking pictures debuted, it suffers from a few defects that were related to the technology--such as an over-reliance on long shots--making the film look a bit "stagy". Additionally, background and incidental music in the film is noticeably absent. You really can't blame the filmmakers, as the technology was new and they still had to work out a few kinks, but it does make the film seem pretty dated and creaky. It wasn't until a year later that these two problems were pretty much eliminated in American films and even better gangster films like PUBLIC ENEMY and LITTLE CAESAR debuted.The story itself is very interesting due to its cast. Lew Ayres, who had just made a name for himself in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, stars as a "nice" and "respectable" mob leader. Only late in the film do we see him unleash a wave of extreme violence. This is actually rather ironic considering that in real life, Ayres was strongly opposed to violence and when drafted in WWII, served as a medic because he was so morally opposed to taking lives! Also, this was only the second film for Jimmy Cagney. Since he wasn't an established star, it's not surprising he plays a supporting role though he already was being cast as a mobster in films.The movie is in some ways a very typical Warner Brothers gangster film, though with one exception. Mob boss Ayres is a supposedly smart man and retires from the mob when he's still very young and able to enjoy the spoils of his work. But, when the gangs start fighting among themselves, he is reluctantly pulled back into the picture--leading to a rather dramatic conclusion. Interestingly, although the movie was pretty violent in spots and probably featured more gunfire than any film of the 30s, some of the key violent scenes are not seen but are only heard. An interesting idea no doubt spurred on by the new sound technology.