The Big House

The Big House (1930)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: George W. Hill

Starring: Chester Morris, Robert Montgomery, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Leila Hyams

From: MGM

Here is an obscure prison movie that I say is well worth seeing for those in the genre... if you can catch it on TV or order the Warner Archive DVD, that is. I'll talk about it below: 

As I sometimes do, I watch a random movie on Turner Classic Movies that is otherwise difficult to track down. This one is part of the deal they are doing this month (January, 2017) where each Tuesday they'll show some prison movies. This one sounded interesting as it was one of the earliest examples of its type and I recognized a few of its stars from other films I had seen, such as Wallace Beery, Robert Montgomery and Lewis Stone. I am not sure how many prison movies I'll see this month, but at least I will have seen one.

The plot: Robert Montgomery is sent to prison; he not only got arrested for DUI, he killed someone. That'll typically result in a conviction... unless you're a celebrity... anyhow, even back then overcrowded jails was a thing and Montgomery discovers that the slammer is a very rough place to be, especially for a “nice guy” like him. Various compelling things happen and as this is a Pre-Code movie, it means that things are hard-hitting and the rough edges aren't muted for the censors.

While it's not the most realistic look at prison and how things are done (in 1930, were prison meals so neat and orderly?), the general themes are still understandable and relevant to today. Cigarettes are a big thing, prisoners wish to leave and ask their lawyers to try and get an early release, the convicts hate the food, and yeah, to try and get time shaved off their sentence, they'll drop the dime on their “pals” and give information to the prison wardens.

The movie's always entertaining, it's shot quite well on expansive sets with plenty of extras and the main characters are memorable because the actors do a swell job bringing them to live. The final act, it ends up being explosive and quite exciting, with a lot going on; I'll just say that action fans should enjoy it. Everyone that enjoys the prison genre of cinema, this should not be ignored because of obscurity.