X
- 1930
- Passed
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- 1 h 27 m
- 1930
- Passed
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- 1 h 27 m
Summary A convict falls in love with his new cellmate's sister, only to become embroiled in a planned break-out which is certain to have lethal consequences.
Directed By: George W. Hill, Ward Wing
Written By: Frances Marion, Joseph Farnham, Martin Flavin
- 1930
- Passed
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- 1 h 27 m
- 1930
- Passed
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- 1 h 27 m
The Big House
74
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Where to Watch
Summary A convict falls in love with his new cellmate's sister, only to become embroiled in a planned break-out which is certain to have lethal consequences.
Directed By: George W. Hill, Ward Wing
Written By: Frances Marion, Joseph Farnham, Martin Flavin
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 Critic Reviews
74
100% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 Critic Reviews
74
100% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Grimly realistic and often brutal, it exposes the inhuman conditions and paranoia that deepen criminal resolve among inmates.
The granddaddy of prison pics opens with a lecture on overcrowding and ends with a high mortality rate, in which Chester Morris, a bald Wallace Beery and stoolie Robert Montgomery (Elizabeth's father) are players. [24 Jun 1994, p.3D]
The prototype for every saga of the slammer to come, starring Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, and Robert Montgomery. Beery is particularly good in his toughest tough-guy role.
As Butch, Morgan and Kent, Wallace Beery, Chester Morris and Robert Montgomery are a great trio in ‘the big house’, where each is serving a stretch for homicide, forgery and manslaughter, respectively. Prison life on the half-shell is plainly exposed.
It is a film that sweeps swiftly along, with some conspicuously fine episodes and others where the humor is not a little forced.
The Big House is an MGM film, and while it takes on the problem of prison overcrowding, at times it’s more like a window into a secret society, with its own codes and concerns. It’s an outsized, abstracted version of everyday life circa 1930.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 2 Wins & 4 Nominations
