Hell's House (1932)
Overview
A teenager lands in a brutal reform school for refusing to squeal on his bootlegger boss.
Cast
Bette Davis
Peggy Gardner
Pat O’Brien
Matt Kelly
Junior Durkin
James "Jimmy" Mason
Frank Coghlan Jr.
Shorty
Emma Dunn
Emma Clark
Charley Grapewin
Henry Clark
Morgan Wallace
Frank Gebhardt
Hooper Atchley
Captain of the Guard
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CinemaSerf
Despite the fact that Bette Davis takes top billing here, she rarely features in this rather effective tale of a young boy "Jimmy" (Junior Durkin), who does the right thing and ends up taking the rap for bootlegger "Kelly" (Pat O'Brien). His integrity now sees him in Reform School for three years. There he befriends "Shorty" (Frank Coghlan Jr.) and together we experience the hardships faced by these young men as they are essentially incarcerated, used and forgotten about. Meantime, newspaper man "Gebhardt" (Morgan Wallace) is set on exposing the truth about this place and improving the standards for the boys. Can he do it before tragedy ensues? The film belongs to the charming and decent "Jimmy", and Durkin turns in an engaging performance in the role as the young, naive and optimistic young man ill-equipped for his new life in city where he is ripe for exploitation. It builds slowly, but well until a denouement that is maybe a bit late in the day, but fitting nonetheless. The production is all a bit basic, but I still quite enjoyed this.
