A hard-hitting gangster film, DOORWAY TO HELL was one of the first cinematic attempts to chronicle the modern-day hoodlum and his quirky lifestyle. Normally mild-mannered Lew Ayres does a turnabout here, playing a ruthless crime overlord who considers himself a reincarnation of Napoleon
Bonaparte and occupies his leisure time by writing his memoirs. To protect the image his kid brother holds of him, Ayres shocks his underlings by quitting the rackets at the height of his success and announcing that he is going to marry Dorothy Mathews and retire to Florida. What Ayres doesn't
realize is that James Cagney, the lieutenant to whom he turns over his rackets, has been s...
Released:
1930
Rated:
NR
Length:
79 mins