The Big House | |
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![]() Original lobby card depicting Chester Morris and Wallace Beery | |
Directed by | George Hill |
Screenplay by | Story and dialogue by Frances Marion Additional dialogue by Joe Farnham and Martin Flavin |
Produced by | Irving Thalberg (uncredited) |
Starring | Chester Morris Wallace Beery Lewis Stone Robert Montgomery Leila Hyams George F. Marion J. C. Nugent |
Cinematography | Harold Wenstrom |
Edited by | Blanche Sewell |
Music by | no credit |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $414,000 [2] [3] |
Box office | $1,715,000 (worldwide rentals) [2] [3] |
The Big House is a 1930 American pre-Code prison drama film directed by George Hill, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and starring Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone and Robert Montgomery. The story and dialogue were written by Frances Marion, who won the Academy Award for Best Writing Achievement. As one of the first prison movies, it inspired many others of this genre.
Kent (Robert Montgomery), a drunk driver who carelessly kills a man, is sentenced to ten years for manslaughter. In an overcrowded prison designed for 1800 and actually holding 3000, he is placed in a cell with Butch (Wallace Beery) and Morgan (Chester Morris), the two leaders of the inmates. Butch is alternately menacing and friendly, while Morgan tries to help out the frightened, inexperienced youngster, but Kent rebuffs his overtures.
When Butch is ordered into solitary confinement for sparking a protest over the prison food, he passes along his knife before being searched. It ends up in Kent's hands. Meanwhile, Morgan is notified that he is to be paroled. Prior to a search of their cell, Kent hides the knife in Morgan's bed. When it is found, Morgan's parole is canceled, and he is put in solitary as well. He vows to make Kent pay for what he has done.
When Morgan is let out of solitary, he escapes by switching places with a corpse on the way to the morgue. He makes his way to the bookstore run by Kent's beautiful sister, Anne (Leila Hyams). She, however, recognizes him. She manages to get his gun and starts to call the police, but then changes her mind and gives him back his pistol. Morgan (who has been attracted to Anne since he saw Kent's photograph of her) gets a job and becomes better acquainted with Anne and her family. They all like him, especially Anne. However, he is caught and sent back to prison.
When Butch tells Morgan of his plan for a jailbreak on Thanksgiving, Morgan tells him that he is going straight. In return for a promise of freedom, Kent informs the warden (Lewis Stone) of the attempt, though he is not privy to the details. Despite the warning, the inmates succeed in taking over the prison, capturing many of the guards, though they are unable to force their way out. Thwarted, Butch threatens to shoot the guards one by one unless they are allowed to escape. When the warden stands firm, Butch shoots the warden's right-hand man in cold blood, then tosses the dying man out for all to see.
Army tanks are called to break down the entrance. Morgan grabs a pistol from the prisoner assigned to watch the guards. He finds Kent cowering with the guard but spares him. Kent panics and flees before Morgan locks the guards in to save their lives. When Kent tries to open the front doors, he is killed in the crossfire. Butch is told that Morgan was the "stoolie" who tipped off the warden and learns he has put the guards out of danger. He sets out to kill his former friend. In the ensuing gunfight, both are wounded, Butch fatally. Before he dies, he learns that Kent was actually the informer, and he and Morgan reconcile. For his efforts, Morgan is given a full pardon. When he exits the prison, Anne rushes to embrace him.
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The story was inspired by a spate of prison riots in 1929 and resulting federal investigation. In response, George Hill wrote a twenty-seven page story treatment called "The Reign of Terror: A Story of Crime and Punishment". Irving Thalberg gave the go ahead for the screenplay and assigned Frances Marion to work with George Hill. [4]
Lon Chaney was originally chosen for the role of Butch, a violent career criminal who rules the prison cellblock, but the cancer from which he was to die in August 1930 had already advanced too far and the role went to Wallace Beery. [5] The movie launched Beery's sound career to new heights; a top supporting actor and frequent leading man in silents, he had been dropped by his previous studio Paramount when sound came in even though he recorded a successful voice test. After The Big House became a hit and his performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role, he became the world's highest-paid actor within two years.
The story and dialogue were written by Frances Marion, with additional dialogue by Joe Farnham and Martin Flavin. Marion won the Academy Award for Best Writing Achievement. Douglas Shearer also won the first Academy Award for Sound. The film was nominated for Best Picture. [6] The Big House was one of the first prison films ever made and was tremendously influential on the genre. [7]
In the early days of sound films, it was common for Hollywood studios to produce "Foreign Language Versions" of their films using the same sets, costumes and so on. While many of these versions no longer exist, the French, Spanish and German-language versions of The Big House survive, which are entitled Révolte dans la prison, El presidio and Menschen hinter Gittern . The French and Spanish versions are available with the original in a triple feature set from the Warner Archives. [8]
Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times described it as "a film in which the direction, the photography, the microphone work and the magnificent acting take precedence over the negligible story." [9]
Variety called it a "virile, realistic melodrama". [10] John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote, "So expert are many of the scenes, so effective the photography, so direct and spare the dialogue, that certain obvious, silly, and dull moments may almost be overlooked." [11]
Wallace Beery was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Big House, cementing his career in sound films, and won the following year for The Champ (1931).
According to MGM records The Big House took in approximately $1,279,000 in theater rentals from the United States and Canada, an additional $436,000 from foreign rentals, and earned a profit of $462,000. [2] [3]
Steven H. Scheuer's TV Movie Almanac & Ratings 1958 & 1959 gave The Big House a "Good" rating of 3 stars (out of 4), summarizing its plot as "[D]esperate convicts try a prison break", with the evaluation, "[T]his early example of prison melodrama is still entertaining". Leonard Maltin's TV Movies & Video Guide (1989 edition) also put the rating at 3 (out of 4 stars), describing it as "[T]he original prison drama" and indicating that "this set the pattern for all later copies; it's still good, hard-bitten stuff with one of Beery's best tough-guy roles". In the third edition (2015) of his Classic Movie Guide, Maltin also mentioned the surviving French and Spanish-language versions and added that "Charles Boyer stars in the former".
British references had some positive words for the film, with the 1984 edition of David Shipman's The Good Film and Video Guide giving 1 star out of 4 ("Recommended with reservations"), noting that it is "[An] untypical MGM film, about prison life which is now laughably conventional but was then very influential". Shipman describes Wallace Beery and Chester Morris as "two old lags" and Robert Montgomery as "the wealthy guy too weak for the system". Leslie Halliwell in the 5th edition (1985) of his Film and Video Guide, rated it 2 stars out of 4 and described it as an "[A]rchetypal prison melodrama and a significant advance in form for early talkies."
The Champ is a 1931 American pre-Code film starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper and directed by King Vidor from a screenplay by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock. The picture tells the story of a washed-up alcoholic boxer (Beery) attempting to put his life back together for the sake of his young son (Cooper).
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934), and his title role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.
The Big Pond is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic comedy film based on a 1928 play of the same name by George Middleton and A. E. Thomas. The film was written by Garrett Fort, Robert Presnell Sr. and Preston Sturges, who provided the dialogue in his first Hollywood assignment, and was directed by Hobart Henley. The film stars Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert, and features George Barbier, Marion Ballou, and Andrée Corday, and was released by Paramount Pictures.
Irving Grant Thalberg was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather production staff, and make profitable films, including Grand Hotel, China Seas, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, Camille and The Good Earth. His films carved out an international market, "projecting a seductive image of American life brimming with vitality and rooted in democracy and personal freedom", states biographer Roland Flamini.
Min and Bill is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy-drama film, directed by George W. Hill and starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery. Adapted by Frances Marion and Marion Jackson from Lorna Moon's 1929 novel Dark Star, the film tells the story of dockside innkeeper Min's tribulations as she tries to protect the innocence of her adopted daughter, Nancy, while loving and fighting with boozy fisherman Bill, who resides at the inn. The picture was a runaway hit. In 1931, the studio released a Spanish-language version of Min and Bill, La fruta amarga, directed by Arthur Gregor and starring Virginia Fábregas and Juan de Landa.
Noah Nicholas Beery was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominent character actor Noah Beery Jr. He was billed as either Noah Beery or Noah Beery Sr. depending upon the film.
Noah Lindsey Beery was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Beery Jr. seldom broke away from playing supporting roles. Active as an actor in films or television for well over half a century, he was best known for playing James Garner's character's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, in the NBC television series The Rockford Files (1974–1980). His father, Noah Nicholas Beery enjoyed a similarly lengthy film career as an extremely prominent supporting actor in major films, although the elder Beery was also frequently a leading man during the silent film era.
Karl Dane was a Danish-American comedian and actor known for his work in American films, mainly of the silent film era. He became a star after portraying “Slim”, a supporting role in one of the most successful silent films of all time, The Big Parade (1925), directed by King Vidor and starring John Gilbert.
George William Hill was an American film director and cinematographer.
Pardon Us is a 1931 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the duo's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931.
The Bowery is a 1933 American pre-Code historical comedy-drama film set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan around the start of the 20th century directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Wallace Beery and George Raft. The supporting cast features Jackie Cooper, Fay Wray, and Pert Kelton.
The Secret Six is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film starring Wallace Beery as "Slaughterhouse Scorpio", a character very loosely based on Al Capone, and featuring Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Marjorie Rambeau and Ralph Bellamy. The film was written by Frances Marion and directed by George W. Hill for MGM.
Billy the Kid is a 1930 American pre-Code Western film directed in widescreen by King Vidor about the relationship between frontier outlaw Billy the Kid and lawman Pat Garrett. In February 2020, the film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.
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The Bad Man is a 1941 American Western film starring Wallace Beery and featuring Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day, and Ronald Reagan. The movie was written by Wells Root from the 1920 Porter Emerson Browne play of the same name and directed by Richard Thorpe. The film is a remake of the 1923 silent version and the 1930 remake starring Walter Huston. The 1941 supporting cast includes Tom Conway and Chill Wills.
Big Jack is a 1949 American Western film starring Wallace Beery, Richard Conte and Marjorie Main. The movie was directed by Richard Thorpe, and the screenplay was written by Gene Fowler and Otto Eis from the novel by Robert Thoeren. The picture is a comedy-drama, set on the American frontier in the early 1800s, about outlaws who befriend a young doctor in legal trouble for acquiring corpses for anatomical research.
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Men Behind Bars is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Pál Fejös and starring Heinrich George, Gustav Diessl and Egon von Jordan. It is the German language version of MGM's The Big House. In the early years of sound before dubbing became widespread, it was common to make films in multiple languages. It premiered in Berlin on June 24, 1931.