The Locked Door (1929)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

George Fitzmaurice

Writers:

Channing Pollock (play) and
C. Gardner Sullivan (screen adaptation)

Release Date:

16 November 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

A drama of sacrifice and supreme love

Plot:

On her first anniversary Ann Reagan finds that her sister-in-law is involved with a shady character from her own past, and determines to intervene.

Plot Keywords:

Cuckold | Shot To Death | Remake | Prohibition | Gigolo

Cast

Rod La Rocque	...	Frank Devereaux
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Ann Carter
William 'Stage' Boyd	...	Lawrence Reagan
Betty Bronson	...	Helen Reagan
Harry Stubbs	...	The Waiter
Harry Mestayer	...	District Attorney
Mack Swain	...	Hotel Proprietor
Zasu Pitts	...	Telephone Girl (as Zazu Pitts)
George Bunny	...	The Valet
Purnell Pratt	...	Police Officer
Fred Warren	...	Photographer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marie Prevost	...	Roomate

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (MovieTone)

Company:

George Fitzmaurice Productions

Trivia:

Zasu Pitts' first name is spelled "Zazu" in the opening credits.

Quotes:

Frank Devereaux: Shoot yourself in the head, and if you live, you can become a Waiter.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Visions of Light (1992)

Soundtrack:

I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling

Uneven, hammy early talkie is a melodramatic mess...

BARBARA STANWYCK was never too fond of her first talkie and it's easy to see why. Filmed at a time when stage actors were just getting familiar with sound technique in films, it has a multitude of problems with regard to script, direction and performances.

ROD LaROCQUE is insufferably hammy as the bad guy who tries to seduce Stanwyck aboard an illegal rum boat and turns up some eighteen months later paying court to her sister (BETTY BRONSON). Stanwyck and hubby WILLIAM BOYD decide to stop LaRocque from carrying through with his plans to run off with Bronson and the plot thickens, going from one melodramatic mess to another before the story crawls to an end.

Best aspect of the film is the photography of Ray June, especially the overhead shots looking through the glass ceiling of a dance floor on the riverboat and the panning shot of bar customers ordering drinks.

Everyone sounds like they're reading their lines for a run through rehearsal, but Stanwyck at least shows emotion well in some good close-ups. Bronson and LaRocque are the worst with the new mikes.