Aline McMahon as Miss Williams : few other American actresses expressed compassion as she did : from Wellman's "heroes for sale " to Zinnemann 's "the search " , she would bring sympathy ,tenderness and emotion to any movie she was in ."Back door to Heaven " is also one of Van Heflin 's first part ,an actor on the theshold of a brilliant career.
The beginning of "Back door to heaven " reminds of that of Wellman "s"wild boys of the road" : the graduation is cause for celebration ; in "wild boys" ,the young hero and his pal cannot afford a ticket to the ball;he's forced to sell his old car .In "back door" , Mom has bought a hat "which almost fits" ;but alcoholic dad does not agree and the boy reluctantly brings back the gift to the store.
The garduation fete is revealing as the former students perform a little act before their beloved teacher and the man from the board of education ; the future banker ,smug and haughty , shows off his total mastery of arithmetic ;some declaim poetry,some sing ,some play the piano or the violin ; but the young hero picks up a modest harmonica (he's just stolen)and he runs through a shortened version of a folk song . Since this scene, the die is cast : the writing's on the wall ;some boys are born to endless night ; had he come from a decent background (one sees him caress the dog,and rejoice when he puts his hat on) ,he would have had a decent life .
His wild years ,with his pals ,are a little derivative and the script is not always satisfying ,with plot holes all through the film .
But the movie regains its strength as soon as the action takes us back to the native town :Miss Williams receiving cards from her former students , the banker trying to "help" his former schoolmate who got a raw deal , the deeply moving plea of the lawyer ( it does not cut ,though, the young hero of "wild boys of the road" 's own plea when he tells the judge about the trials he's been through) .
The final echoes to the beginning:it was the first time since graduation that they'd return to the old school: equal opportunities are a myth , and some will go the Heaven through the back door.
