Hell's House

1932

1h 12m

IMDb RATING

5.1/10

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Drama

A teenager lands in a brutal reform school for refusing to squeal on his bootlegger boss.

Directors

Howard Higgin

Writers

Paul Gangelin(screenplay by)

B. Harrison Orkow(screenplay by)

Howard Higgin(story by)

Stars

Bette Davis

Pat O'Brien

Junior Durkin

See production, box office & company info

Top cast

Peggy Gardner

Matt Kelly

James "Jimmy" Mason

Shorty

Emma Clark

Henry Clark

Frank Gebhardt

Captain of the Guard

Judge Robinson

Charles Thompson

Lucy Mason

Directors

Howard Higgin

Writers

Paul Gangelin(screenplay by)

B. Harrison Orkow(screenplay by)

Howard Higgin(story by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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.

Geronimo196708 Jan, 2023