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Hell's House

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5.3/10 • 25

1932-01-301h 12m

Drama

EXPOSED! The Grim Joke of Justice!

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

Directors
Howard Higgin
Editors
Edward Schroeder

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Bette Davis

    Bette Davis

    Peggy Gardner

  2. Pat O’Brien

    Pat O’Brien

    Matt Kelly

  3. Junior Durkin

    Junior Durkin

    James "Jimmy" Mason

  4. Frank Coghlan Jr.

    Frank Coghlan Jr.

    Shorty

  5. Emma Dunn

    Emma Dunn

    Emma Clark

  6. Charley Grapewin

    Charley Grapewin

    Henry Clark

  7. Morgan Wallace

    Morgan Wallace

    Frank Gebhardt

  8. Hooper Atchley

    Hooper Atchley

    Captain of the Guard

  9. Wallis Clark

    Wallis Clark

    Judge Robinson

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jan 8, 2023

6/10

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.

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  • Hell's House backdrop
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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
bootleggerpre-code