An Unlikely Movie Device: Driveway Gates

The sleek black limo with tinted windows slides into the mansion compound, as the electric gates close behind it. It's a device (both physically and as part of the plot) that is used a great deal in the world of film. No, not the black limo with tinted windows - the electric driveway gates!

They go unnoticed in many films, but they appear frequently. Often, driveway gates are the preserve of millionaires, or minted criminals who need these gates to protect their ill gotten gains. They are almost a sign of success - showing that the owner has so much money, or is so important, that they need driveway gates as protection.

They appear a great deal in American film - notably in properties in such desirable areas as Hollywood or Beverly Hills. This is where the moneyed live, be they mafia bosses or legit businessmen.

In 1984's Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy leads an assault on the baddie - a certain Victor Maitland. The driveway gate plays its part in this classic cop blockbuster. An obstacle in Murphy's way, he and his cop friends are forced to find another way into the property and confront this memorable bad guy - specifically by shooting him.

As making a film is all about throwing obstacles in front of characters and showing how they overcome them, the iconic driveway gates provide just such an obstacle. How many times have we seen a maverick cop get confounded by electric gates as his quarry disappears into a mansion compound? He is then compelled to vault a fence or wall, possibly assisted by his side kick.

Driveway gates seem to open unassisted, as if they have some kind of autonomous power, or are controlled by some unseen henchman, who is hidden deep in the mansion or lavish house. These driveway gates seem to possess an air of mystery - a mystery which helps drive the plot and retain the interest of the viewer. If a henchman doesn't open the gates, it's likely to be controlled by a device in the limo itself.

Driveway gates mark entry or exit into what is often a different world - a world inhabited by the rich, by playboys - by people who on the wrong side of the law. One example where driveway gates create this barrier is in Stanley Kubrick's final film - Eyes Wide Shut (1999), where Tom Cruise is given a cryptic message through wrought iron gates of a mansion.

In a sense they have become a status symbol in real life too - anyone who needs automatic driveway gates must be doing rather well, and have a lot of valuables to protect. Either this, or they themselves are so important they need the extra protection afforded by them.

Another large user of driveway gates in the real world is of course business. The automated qualities of these gates allow trucks, vans or cars to enter commercial premises quickly and securely. Gates which open upwards are particularly good for utilising a little space as possible - important if you're dealing with long trucks which need to enter premises from busy highways.

But the most exciting use of driveway gates remains in the Hollywood blockbuster or thriller, where they have somehow become an oft used device for directors.