The Big House

Released Jun 14, 1930

1h 27m

Crime

Drama

List

75%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

After being convicted of manslaughter, drunk driver Kent Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) is inducted into the rigors of prison life. He befriends fellow cons "Machine Gun" Butch Schmidt (Wallace Beery) and John Morgan (Chester Morris). Together they bristle at the prison's deplorable conditions and especially the inhumane policies of their cruel warden (Lewis Stone). Rising tensions culminate in a prison riot that may shake the institution to its core.

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Louisa E

I loved Beery in this movie. I thought his character and acting was great. The cinematography was fantastic. What bothered me about this movie was the pace (I felt it was a bit too slow), and the whole sister romance thing. I read in the trivia of the movie that the original version had it as the goody-two-shoes' wife. That would have been much more interesting and realistic. I guess I also didn't like that they basically made it seem that ratting out the prisoner's escape plans was a bad thing. It just felt a bit disjointed for me but had some wonderful elements. 6.75/10

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

As one of the first prison movies, this inspired others in this genre. This early example of prison melodrama is still entertaining. This is still good, hard-bitten stuff with one of Beery's best tough guy roles.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Still relatable to most prisons. I think prisons have gotten somewhat better as far now there's commissaries and more activities/access to outside things, but yea overall prison is still garbage at least for most poor ppl. Not the worst classic film, but def kinda boring at parts as its very simple and no subtitles (my pet peeve) esp with old movies where the sound isn't great. The best part of film was interesting rship btw Morgan n Butch, Honestly tho I'd rather watch one of those reality shows about prison nowadays than this film as they're more relevant/interesting.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

steve d

A erly prison film that somehow is still effective.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Prison films from this era tend to serve as social dramas hoping to be Oscar bait that involve an innocent man trapped inside a prison system where he is mistreated before escaping and falling in love with a nice girl. This film had many similarities to the later I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932) but it tried to expand the scope of the story with many supporting characters and a little more moral complexity than that film. I found myself liking the film even as I had low expectations for it and due to it's brief running time and some surprisingly involving conflicts I think this earned the critical acclaim it received at the time. Kent, Robert Montgomery, is imprisoned due to drunk driving charges and believes himself to be innocent but he finds himself struggling to fit in at an overcrowded prison. He is roommates with the violent, mercurial Butch, Wallace Beery, and the friendly, fatherly Morgan, Robert Montgomery, but both are members of a clique established in the prison that Kent cannot break into. Kent decides to become a stool pigeon to try to get out of prison early and when Morgan is to receive parole early for good behavior he plants a knife in his bed and has him sent to solitary confinement. When Morgan gets out he fakes an illness and escapes, finding Kent's sister Anne, Leila Hyams, and falling in love with her before he is found and taken back to the prison. Butch has been planning a mass prison escape while Morgan is away and when he arrives back at the prison suspicion is directed his way. He tries to warn the prison guards of the conflict that will arise but they do not listen to him and violence breaks out. One of the major issues with the film is the image quality as unlike other notable films from this era it does not appear to have been restored and so it appears blurry throughout. The cinematographer also appears to have done a poor job of framing as actors will regularly have the tops of their heads cut off or bounce in and out of frame. This occasionally took me out of the film as it was hard to make out what was occurring at some points and at many points where Morris was delivering a dramatic line of dialogue I suddenly could not make out his eyes. This also took away from the set design and cinematography in place as there were some impressive shots, such as the tracking shots of the prisoners passing guns back and forth, that were compromised by the fuzzy image. Here's for hoping that this film does receive some sort of restoration soon as I would like to see some of the imagery in the film clearly. The film also includes an unnecessary interlude in which Morgan escapes from prison and falls in love. This was entirely unnecessary as we already supported Morgan and trusted that he was morally in the right so it was not correct to take him out of the prison environment in an attempt to make the audience care about him more. This section of the film takes you out of it as a big part of the tension of prison films is drawn from the inescapability of the situation the men are in and seeing a man go free halfway through stops this tension from existing. Add in the fact that the Morgan, fascinating while in prison, becomes generic when interacting with his equally standard love interest and you have a big old dead weight in the middle of the film. What could have elevated the film was leaving Morgan in prison and having the aftermath of Kent's betrayal dealt with but instead the film takes the easy way out and gives the audience a plot contrivance that feels forced and lacking in excitement or intrigue. The fun of the film comes with the scenes inside the prison as the dynamic between the three roommates is fascinating and the double crossing has some real shock to it. Montgomery is well cast as a less than intelligent villain and Morris proves to be more capable than he appeared in Alibi (1929) while Beery relies on the same old shtick he employed in a lot of his other roles. For people who love the work of these actors this film will be a real treat.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

david l

The Big House is a very influential early prison flick as it features most of the archaic plot points we'd come to know very well by now. The first half is much more interesting than the second half, but this Oscar-nominated film is quite well scripted, recorded and particularly well acted with the standout being Wallace Beery who portrays the most interesting character here. It's clunky at times, but it succeeds thanks in large part to its strong dialogue, emotion and character interactions.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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George W. Hill

Director

Wallace Beery

'Machine Gun' Butch Schmidt

Chester Morris

John 'Morg' Morgan, alias John Everett

Robert Montgomery

Kent Marlowe

Lewis Stone

Warden James Adams

Leila Hyams

Anne Marlowe (sister)

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It's an outsized, abstracted version of everyday life circa 1930.

Rated: 3.5/5

Apr 7, 2014

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Harry Alan Potamkin

The New Masses

Dialogue cannot carry the mood, the film as a whole is the vehicle. The accusations therefore remain incidents -- passing and unemphatic. Whatever suggestion of social guilt they contain is dissipated by the events of the story, and their treatment.

Sep 6, 2019

Full Review

Raquel Stecher

Out of the Past

George W. Hill expertly directed the film and some of the scenes with prisoners en masse are beautifully choreographed. I love how cinematographer Harold Wenstrom plays with light and shadow especially in the earlier part of the movie.

Mar 3, 2019

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

A good early prison drama with a strong, Oscar-nominated performance of Wallace Beery as a tough murderer; Beery took over after Lon Chaney's sudden death.

Rated: B

Feb 12, 2008

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Despite its flaws, for those who love this genre it's a must see film.

Rated: C+

Jan 23, 2008

Full Review

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

Goatdog's Movies

Any niggling doubts about the film disappear in the last twenty minutes.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jun 25, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

After being convicted of manslaughter, drunk driver Kent Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) is inducted into the rigors of prison life. He befriends fellow cons "Machine Gun" Butch Schmidt (Wallace Beery) and John Morgan (Chester Morris). Together they bristle at the prison's deplorable conditions and especially the inhumane policies of their cruel warden (Lewis Stone). Rising tensions culminate in a prison riot that may shake the institution to its core.

Director: George W. Hill
Screenwriter: Joseph Farnham, Frances Marion, Lennox Robinson, Martin Flavin
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp.
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 14, 1930, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 22, 2009
Runtime: 1h 27m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

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