The Locked Door

George Fitzmaurice was one of the great commercial stylists among directors in the 1920s. He suffered an eclipse in the early talkie era but was fighting his way back into the majors when he died in 1940.

This means, of course, there are a lot of problems with this movie. The screen actors don't know how to do dialogue and most of the stage actors don't know how to turn down their performances for the intimacy of the movie camera. Barbara Stanwyck, looking very fresh-faced, is very loud in her line readings. She knows how to show her emotions beautifully already, though.

But producer Joe Schenck didn't spare any expense behind the camera, and it shows. Avant-garde cameraman Ray June handles the camera impeccably. While other directors were having their cameramen use cuts to change subjects, Fitzmaurice has June move the camera. Notice the long tracking shot at the bar in the opening sequence and the MOS shots used to fill out the sequence.

The camera-work is not fluid. It is, frankly, fairly clunky, but it is light years ahead of anyone else in the business in 1929, except possibly Mamoulian's APPLAUSE.

So while their are a lot of problems with this movie, the camera-work makes this one very superior for 1929 and Barbara Stanwyck makes it worth looking at.