The attraction here is not just Barbara Stanwyck, even though it's her first talkie and she handles her role with a secure professionalism that belies her cinematic inexperience. Born for the camera she was! But an equally impressive performance is delivered by Rod La Rocque as the serial cad who mistreats her and then sets his sights on her younger sister. The trappings are typical 20's soap opera/melodrama, in this case derived from a stage play. But not typical for the era is La Rocque's well-tailored villain who seems to have stepped out of a story from a much later era; in fact, his performance would not be considered one bit dated even by today's standards - highly unusual for a film from 1929. His line readings and body language bespeak a decadent, spoiled rogue without a scintilla of conscience, all of this enhanced by delicately tapered sideburns. He also has a smooth, deep speaking voice. The look and style of the film are standard for the era but include an interesting, lively panoramic dance party sequence on a "drinking boat" (pleasure boats that sailed outside the 12-mile limit of the US coast so the patrons could drink alcohol illegally during the Prohibition era) intercut with an intimate scene between Stanwyck and La Rocque in one of the cabins.
Review of The Locked Door
