A check and release mechanism for holding a door in a desired opened position against the force of a closing cylinder which is separate but alongside a door closing actuator which acts to close the door upon its release, the catch and release mechanism includes a catch and release operator rod separate from an actuator operator rod and parallel thereto moved, the door catch and release operating rod has a latch element pivotally mounted to one side of the catch and release operator rod and is moved along a guide slot in a catch and release mechanism case, by continued opening movement of the door into an enlarged engagement chamber in the case, and the leading end of the latch element engages a first fixed feature therein at the approximate location where it is desired to hold the door open. That engagement causes a slight tilting of the latch element and stops further opening advance of the door and operating rod. A slight retraction of the door and the catch and release operating rod causes a trailing end of the tilted latch element to engage a second fixed feature in the chamber which causes the latch element to tilt further in the same direction preventing further closing movement of the door. The engagement of the latch element with the second fixed feature is released by manually moving the door back in the opening direction, causing one side of the tilted latch element to engage the first fixed feature to tilt the latch element further, and upon release the door again moves in the closing direction and the opposite side of the latch element then contacts the second fixed feature be pivoted so as to again be in alignment with the guide slot, allowing the door to close with the latch element advancing down the guide slot.