Hell’s House (1932) | (VHS) | USED | Starring Bette Davis

**USA ONLY**

Title: Hell’s House (1932)

Genre: Drama

Plot Synopsis
Orphaned Jimmy Mason is taken in by his Aunt Emma and Uncle Henry, where he becomes enthralled by their boarder, Matt Kelly, a man who talks big about political power while secretly running a bootlegging ring. After a raid, Jimmy refuses to name Matt and is sentenced to years in a harsh reform school. While there, he befriends a sick boy named Shorty, who gets isolated for helping Jimmy communicate with the outside world. Fearing for Shorty’s deteriorating health, Jimmy escapes to reach out to Peggy Gardner and newspaper columnist Frank Gebhardt. Under pressure, Matt finally admits his wrongs and helps secure Jimmy’s release — too late for Shorty, whose fate underscores the corruption and cruelty of the system.

Cast and Crew

• Director: Howard Higgin

• Writers: Paul Gangelin; B. Harrison Orkow

• Cast:

  • Junior Durkin as Jimmy Mason

  • Pat O’Brien as Matt Kelly

  • Bette Davis as Peggy Gardner

  • Frank Coghlan Jr. as Shorty

  • Emma Dunn as Emma Clark

IMDb Link: Hell’s House (1932)

Reviews from Letterboxd

1. laze the ction unkie – ★☆☆☆☆
   “A witless boy goes to jail for not ratting out his illegal bootlegging employer during prohibition. This felt like half an old propaganda flick, half one of those super-old flicks that have a moral or lesson to them. It certainly highlighted what was wrong with the prohibition in general, then is promoted not ratting out your brother on multiple occasions. I was bored throughout the flick, but at least it did have a decent enough lesson in the end.”

2. Richard Cross – ★★½☆☆
   “Hell’s House is an independent picture which has the feel of a Warner Brothers product, not only because it stars Warner refugees Bette Davis and Pat O’Brien but because of the crime and prison – or reform school – subject matter. Although Davis and O’Brien headline, it’s the ill-fated Junior Durkin, playing a good kid who ends up in reform school, who has most of the screen time. A pacey and tough drama that stands up well to the second-tier features churned out by the majors.”

3. Fint – ★★½☆☆
   “BETTE DAVIS & PAT O’BRIEN with junior coghlan is misselling of the highest order. The film is about Junior Coghlan’s character, an innocent orphan lad who gets suckered into taking the rap for bootleggers and ends up enduring the harsh regime at the State Industrial School. Pat plays the man who put him there and disappears from the film for long stretches, along with his girlfriend Bette. O’Brien is insufferably smug, Davis is sympathetic and a little bit sassy. It’s a very rudimentary production, made for an independent company, that is aiming for social exposé and pleading for reform but is too basic to ram its points home effectively. After loaning her out for this cheap production, Universal promptly dropped their option on Davis. The fools.”

4. Channing Pomeroy – ★½☆☆
   “In the 1930s Bette Davis was famously embroiled in a breech off contract suit with the studio due to her dissatisfaction with a series of mediocre roles and films. Hell’s House could have Ben Exhibit A. The intent was to shine a light on the juvenile penal system, but seeing Bette Davis in her juvenile plumage is the only reason to watch it today. Bette plays a moll who’s wise to her wiseguy, Pat O’Brien, big talking small timer. She’s good in her 5 minutes of screen time, and he’s good in his 10. The juveniles’ acting takes up most of the rest and is the quality of a s&x education film. It’s long in sentimentality and short on pre-code.”

5. Daniel Staebler – ★★½☆☆
   “Blu-Ray. Social melodrama. To protect the man he worships, a 15-year-old teenager is about to experience the reality of reform schools. Restored by the Library of Congress. Although this film is full of good intentions, in my opinion there’s only one scene that saves it from anonymity: the Chinese shadows of punished young inmates forced to stand still. Bette Davis does well with the little dialogue she’s given, as does Pat O’Brien, who on the other hand regales us with his inveterate boastful logorrhea.”

Meta Description:
A 1932 pre-Code drama exposing the cruelty of juvenile reform schools as an orphan endures injustice, corruption, and loss while fighting for truth and reform.