The revisionist western par excellence, Devil’s Doorway is the story of the despicable white man stealing the land off the noble American Indian and then getting nasty when the Indian objects.
It stars Robert Taylor as Broken Lance, a Shoshone Indian known as Lance Powell while serving in the US Army, where he won a Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in the Civil War. Now the war is over Lane is back in the Medicine Bow area where he grew up, to raise cattle on land that’s been in his family for generations.
In an early speech in the local saloon Lance expresses the hope that, now the hostilities are over, everyone can just get along together. Local lawyer Coolan is literally spitting because Lance is even in the saloon so it’s clear that not all men think the same. Nor does Lance’s father, who lays it out for Lance unambiguously – don’t underestimate the hatred of the white man for the likes of us, he says, and make sure you have lots of land to protect you from them.
Fate, it turns out, is on the side of Coolan and Lance’s father. Wyoming gets incorporated into the USA and is opened up to homesteaders. Indians lose the right to own property. Even though he fought for his country, Lance is suddenly no longer a US citizen. Instead of enjoying his life and property after the rigours of war, Lane is expected to head meekly for the reservation with the rest of his ilk.
Instead he goes to war on two fronts, hiring the only other attorney in town, a “lady lawyer” by the name of Orrie Masters, and preparing to take on the homesteaders by force if they encroach on his land.
There are a few American Indians (Native Americans, First People, or whatever you prefer but just plain “Indians” in this film) dotted through the cast but Taylor isn’t one of them. Having a paleface, Wasp-y guy playing a redskin was normal for 1950, you might have thought, though the New York Times thought it notable enough to comment on it – Taylor was “a peculiar choice to play a full-blooded Indian”, its review said – before it went on to commend his forceful performance.
It is a good performance. Taylor presents Lance as a wronged man who might all the same be letting his heart prevail over his head. Taylor’s increasing “Indianisation” – darker skin, longer hair, eventually a headband – indicates Lance’s shifting position.
Louis Calhern as Attorney Coolan, fomenting trouble and all but twirling his moustaches, is so good as the baddie of the piece that he’s a joy to watch. Paula Raymond plays lawyer Orrie as the repository of white privilege and maidenly virtue. Rhys Williams registers as the local marshal, a good man who used to go trapping with Lance’s father but feels duty bound to uphold the law, no matter how unfair it might be.
The homesteaders get some sympathy too. What are poor farmers meant to do once they’ve bought their sheep, which are now in danger of dying without access to water and grazing?
This is a superb looking film, thanks to the cinematography of John Alton, who is a master of deep focus (see Citizen Kane). Anthony Mann uses it narratively, regularly ranging might against right with one party in the foreground, the other in the background, both of them pin sharp.
But there’s no denying the moral weight is with Lance, and the film emphasises the point in a massively ironic big finish where the cavalry rides to the rescue… but not of Lance.
Devil’s Doorway – Watch it/buy it at Amazon
I am an Amazon affiliate
© Steve Morrissey 2025
