Name: The Big House
Genre: Crime, Drama
Released: 1930-06-14
Duration: 87 min
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams

1930·Crime·1h 27m

7.1

★

Convicted of manslaughter for a drunken driving accident, Kent Marlowe is sent to prison, where he meets vicious incarcerated figures who are planning an escape from the brutal conditions.

Directed by George W. Hill

prison

prison cell

inmate

pre-code

manslaughter

incarceration

prison break attempt

IMDB

N/A

Where to Watch

Cast

Chester Morris

John Morgan

Wallace Beery

Machine Gun 'Butch' Schmidt

Lewis Stone

Warden James Adams

Robert Montgomery

Kent Marlowe

Leila Hyams

Anne Marlowe

George F. Marion

Pop

J. C. Nugent

Mr. Marlowe

Karl Dane

Olsen

DeWitt Jennings

Wallace

Matthew Betz

Gopher

Claire McDowell

Mrs. Marlowe

Robert Emmett O'Connor

Donlin

Crew

George W. Hill

Director

Frances Marion

Writer

Irving Thalberg

Producer

Frances Marion

Story

Frances Marion

Dialogue

Joseph Farnham

Additional Dialogue

Cedric Gibbons

Art Direction

Douglas Shearer

Sound

Popular Reviews

6 reviews

Castor

5.0★ · 06/22/26

Ok we're at least getting closer to actual narrative storytelling, probably my favorite watch so far in this

Erik Olsson

7.0★ · 02/22/26

A type of movie that you've seen plenty of times in better versions, but the fact it's as strong as it is in 1930 is impressive in it's own right. Though frankly I just want to go rewatch Shawshank. It still suffers from being an early sound film, but much more watchable than plenty others of the era.

Abinesh

6.0★ · 05/09/26

likwach

6.0★ · 05/06/25

diana

5.7★ · 05/05/25