Product Details

• Actors: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams
• Directors: George W. Hill, Ward Wing
• Writers: Frances Marion, Joseph Farnham, Lennox Robinson, Martin Flavin
• Producers: Irving Thalberg
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: June 22, 1994
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303092012
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,564 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars riveting "early talkie" prison drama with incredible acting and great sound for its time, September 12, 2009

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Big House (DVD)

The Big House is a riveting prison drama with convincing acting that grabs you by the throat and never lets you go until the very ending of the film! The casting is great; and the script, primarily written by Frances Marion, is brilliant. The cinematography and the choreography are very, very good as well. This may be an "early talkie," but don't be fooled--the quality of the sound is actually quite good; I tip my hat to the other reviewer who notes that this got an Oscar for sound. There's some social commentary woven into the script but it's brief and rather similar to what we would hear today!

At the beginning of the film, Kent Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) gets thrown into prison for manslaughter; he accidentally ran over a man when he was driving drunk on New Year's Eve. Kent meets the prison warden James Adams (Lewis Stone) and his new cellmates, "Machine Gun" Butch Schmidt (Wallace Beery) and convicted forger John Morgan (Chester Morris). Right from the start we see and experience the prison environment: inmates bullying each other; people making elaborate plans for breaking out; others serving time in solitary which is completely dark and is referred to as "the dungeon;" and still more inmates trying to ingratiate themselves to guards and other prisoners to get favors and time reduced from their prison sentences--and the list goes on. Kent is overwhelmed although he makes friends with another prisoner named Oliver (Fletcher Norton) who tries to help him in his own way. As for Butch, he's one tough guy who murders and thinks nothing of it. To make things even more complicated, when Kent's sister Anne (Leila Hyams) comes to visit him, John Morgan takes one look at her and wants to make her his own, especially when John's lawyer tells him that he's getting early parole the next day. However, Kent makes trouble for John by planting a knife in John's bed just before John was to be released early on parole!

John actually manages to sneak out of jail (and, no, I'm not spoiling it by telling you how he manages THAT one); but he is recognized by Police Sgt. Donlin (Robert Emmett O'Connor). When John returns to prison again, he is under very strict supervision. While he was on the outside, however, John met and fell in love with Kent's sister Anne; and she began to feel the same way about him, too.

Things heat up in a big way when a huge prison break is planned for noon on Thanksgiving Day; Butch and several of his buddies are in on it. They know that if they fail they'll "get the rope;" but they are willing to take the gamble. Watch for a huge, extended and dramatic scene at the very end of the movie. Will they be able to get out or will at least some of them escape--and how will the prison guards hold back the 3,000 prisoners who are all suddenly rioting beyond belief? Who might get killed? Will John and Anne have any chance for a future together? No spoilers--watch and find out!

True, this "Warner Archive" DVD has no extras and the quality of the print is merely a high average (hence the 4 star rating instead of 5 stars); but don't let that turn you off. The Big House is an excellent early prison drama with impeccable acting. I recommend this film for people interested in prison dramas; and fans of the actors in this movie would do well to add this to their collections.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sets the archetype for prison films, January 24, 2010

By 

Dr. James Gardner (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Big House (DVD)

"The Big House" is the first of the prison films to capture an audience, and as such, it is the archetype for almost every prison movie to follow, apart from the "chain gang" films that have their origins in Paul Muni's excellent 1932 "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang."

One doesn't expect a film such as this from MGM. After all, during the early 30s, MGM was best known for Garbo's "Anna Christie" (1930) and "Mata Hari" (1931), "Grand Hotel" (1932), musicals (e.g., "Lord Byron", "Good News", "Dancing Lady" etc.) and the "Tarzan" films. "The Big House" fits better into Warner Brothers, with Edward G Robinson's (1930) "Little Caesar", Cagney's great "Public Enemy" (1931), and Howard Hughes "Scarface" (1932). But Director George Hill and writer Frances Marion were at MGM where they made not only "The Big House", but also Min and Bill (1930) with Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler. Marion was also the writer for "Anna Christie" and "Good News." So this very un MGM film got made at MGM because the artistic talent was there.

The Big House was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, but it was beaten by "All Quiet on the Western Front." Wallace Berry got the nod for Best Actor, but the award went to George Arliss in "Disraeli." But "The Big House" was the winner for Best Sound (Douglas Shearer) and Best Writing (Frances Marion). Marion was the first woman to win an AA for writing. How did a woman get to write a prison movie? Easy, She was married to the Director (George W. Hill). But Marion's success was not attributable to her spousal arrangement alone. She was the favorite writer for such well known actors as Mary Pickford, Marion Davies, and Marie Dressler. In addition she won an Oscar in 1931 for "The Champ" (also with Wallace Beery).

(BTW - there is a 2000 movie entitled "Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Power of Women in Hollywood" with Kathy Bates as the voice of Marion)

The New York Evening Post said "...it is Beery who runs off with the glory...he is the incarnation of a convict." The Big House was so popular that Laurel and Hardy produced a spoof called "Pardon Us" in 1931. It was their first feature film, following literally dozens of two reelers for which they are best remembered. Walter Long does a terrific parody of Wallace Beery, and the blackface bit by Stan and Ollie remains hilarious to this day.

The film itself starts off like a documentary as we follow recently incarcerated Kent Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) through the introductory phases - talk with Warden (Lewis Stone), surrender of personal items, prison uniform, etc. Then Kent goes to his cell, a small sliver of space in which two convicts are already living - Machine Gun Butch Schmidt (Wallace Beery) and robber/forger John Morgan (Chester Morris).

Morris is best remembered for his Boston Blackie films starting in 1941. Robert Montgomery went on to host the popular "Robert Montgomery Presents" series on TV (in which Morris appeared) and to father Elizabeth, our favorite Samantha.

Lon Chaney was originally cast in the role of Butch, but his untimely death gave Beery a chance. Beery was in desperate need of a chance, his career in jeopardy after being released from his contract with Paramount and spending more than a year without a film offer. His role as Butch, coupled with "Min and Bill" the same year (also written by Marion and directed by Hill) and "Billy the Kid" (he played Pat Garrett), followed with the best actor award in 1931 for "The Champ" (also written by Marion) elevated Beery to the A list where he remained and made such memorable films as "Treasure Island" (1934), "Viva Villa" (1934), and "China Seas" (1935). He continued to work through 1949, but his heyday was the 30s. Beery said of himself -"...my mug has been my fortune."

The film shows us the boredom of prison life, the dangers lurking in the prison yard, the terrible dining arrangements (parodied by Leslie Nielson in Naked Gun), and the fearfulness of solitary confinement (there's great shot of Morris as the door is sealed and he merges with the darkness). The shots of mass movements, in and out of the court yard, up and down the stairs, etc. provide an excellent visage into prison uniformity.

There is a liberal bent to the Warden's explanation for the problems in prison (too little money and too many prisoners), and the guards are friendly and folksy. But that doesn't stop the Warden from calling in the tanks when a prison riot breaks out.

Crime was very much on everyone's mind in 1930, as witnessed by Warner Brothers' films with Robinson, Raft, and Cagney. The Roaring Twenties had come to an end and the Depression was only just being felt. Other popular crime films that year were Marlene Dietrich in "The Blue Angel", Howard Hughes' "Hell's Angels", Hitchcock's "Murder", King Vidor's "Billy the Kid" (also starring Beery), and "Street of Chance". The most popular movies of that year were "All Quiet on the Western Front", "The Big House", "Hell's Angels", "The Blue Angel", and "Animal Crackers",

This film is well worth viewing. It gives us a moment in time of how people behaved and what life was like in 1930. It also gives us some great performances and, from an historical perspective, defines prison movies for the next century.
The sound is remarkable for 1930 as is the photography. George Hill's direction is sharp and to the point. His camera work varies from the prison scenes to the scenes in the community, helping give us a fuller feeling of what prison life must have been like.

(BTW - as originally written, the romance was between Morris and Montgomery's wife, but when they got bad reviews at a screening, Irving Thalberg had them re-write the script to make the woman Montgomery's sister rather than his wife. If you look closely, you'll see scenes that were original and scenes that were re-written)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dawn of Sound gives birth to the prison film, September 7, 2009

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Big House (DVD)

There were prison and gangster films during the silent era. "The Godless Girl" and "Alias Jimmy Valentine" are examples of such films before sound came along. However, sound gave such films an added dimension. "The Big House" is one of the earliest and best examples of the prison film during the sound era. It allows the din of human beings living on top of one another, the prison riot, and the armed escape attempt and stand-off to come to life. Add to this great performances by Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, and Robert Montgomery as inmates with Lewis Stone playing in support as the warden who wants to reform the men but is faced with the constraints of a low budget, and you have a great film. Seeing that stiff performances and static cameras were the norm in sound films just the year before in 1929, the technical accomplishments in this film coupled with its natural performances make it way ahead of its time for a 1930 film. The film did win the first academy award for sound, but it is an often forgotten cinema gem.

I give this film 5/5 stars for fans of the early talking picture, but I should warn you that the video is in somewhat shaggy shape. I have compared it to my old VHS tape and it is no worse than that, but no better either. So to say, as some have, that this is equivalent to public domain quality is not quite fair. The video is soft looking - just like some of the unrestored late MGM silents - and it has considerable dust and scratches but the contrast is good and details - such as facial features - are fairly clear. The Academy Award winning sound is still intact and the film sounds quite good. Because of this questionable video quality I bump my rating down from five to four stars.

Do note that this is a Warner Archive product. It is a DVD-R with no extra features and no scene or chapter selections. You may only go forward or backward in ten minute increments. The artwork is adequate and the case is sturdy.