The Big House

Synopsis: After a manslaughter conviction from drunk driving, nice but foolish Kent is sent to a prison over-crowded and unable to properly deal with it's inmates. There he meets veteran criminals like Morgan and his hardened pal Butch. And the system punishes them all, turning them against each other and bringing out the worst.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Production: Warner Bros.
  Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.2
Rotten Tomatoes:
83%
PASSED
Year:
1930
87 min
256 Views


turner entertainment group and u.s. Department of education

hi, bill.

Hello, john.

See you later.

O.k. Good-bye.

Bye.

Kent marlowe-

manslaughter.

Sentenced

to 10 years.

First time

in prison?

Yes.

"Sir" to me.

Yes, sir.

How old are you?

24, sir.

Ever serve

in the army, navy, marine corps?

No, sir.

Use tobacco?

Yes, sir.

Morphine,

opium, cocaine?

No, sir.

Frisk him.

You can have

your cigarettes.

Married?

No, sir.

That's my sister.

You can have

the photographs.

Thank you, sir.

You'll get

the rest back

when you leave

prison.

From now on,

you'll be number 48642.

Give him

the works.

Still.

Give him 24.

Two blankets.

Coat, 36.

Underwear,

four.

Pants, five.

Shirt, 16.

Shirt, 16.

Hat, seven.

Shoes, 81/2.

Shoes, 81/2.

Change

your clothes in there.

Arm length,

351/2 inches.

351/2.

Scar on left

forefinger.

Left

forefinger.

Out this way.

I hate to see

a young fellow like you

in here

for manslaughter.

It was

an accident, sir.

Yes. I remember

your case very well.

You ran a man down

with your car.

Yes, sir. It was

new year's eve.

You were drunk.

Yes, sir.

And now

you're here to pay for that crime

with 10 years

of your life.

Do you realize that?

Yes, sir.

Your sentence

can be reduced by good behavior

and close observance

of the prison rules.

And while you're not,

in the common sense of the word, a criminal,

i want to warn you

against the influences you'll encounter here...

or in any other prison.

Yes, sir.

So you be careful

of your conduct, your associations.

Yes, sir.

And remember this...

prison

does not give a man a yellow streak,

but if he has one,

it brings it out.

That's all.

Well, riker,

what is it?

Do you know who

they're putting that boy in with?

No. Who?

Morgan-

the slickest crook we ever had here-

and machine-gun

butch.

Yes?

Well, a weak

kid like that

thrown in

with a murderer and a gunman?

Now, now, now, pop.

Don't you get

chicken-hearted again.

Well, he might

have a chance in the cell alone.

Yes. I warned them

at the last governor's council.

We have 3,000 here

and cell accommodations

for 1,800.

They all want to throw

people into prison,

but they don't want

to provide for them after they are in.

You mark my word, pop.

Someday we're going to pay

for their shortsightedness.

Yeah, sure.

The whole prison system

is cockeyed.

Yeah?

Here's a face

for you, sandy.

He goes in 265

with butch and morgan.

O.k.

Come on, boy.

Upstairs

to the left.

Here we are.

Hello, kid.

Take off

your earmuffs.

I said hello.

Hello.

Make yourself

to home.

That's your flop

up there.

Thank you.

What's

your name?

I said,

what's your name?

Kent marlowe.

Mine's schmidt.

I'm known

the world over

as machine-gun

butch.

You heard of me.

That's a cinch.

You never heard

of the delacey gang being wiped out?

Well, i done

the wiping.

500 bucks

for bumping off 3.

It ain't much.

It's cheap.

What's your racket?

What you in for?

Manslaughter.

Manslaughter?

Well, you ain't

no morning glory after all.

Press the flesh.

Who'd you croak?

Well, it was

an accident.

An accident?

Yeah. I was

driving a car-

oh, you're all

wet ears. Your nose ain't even dry.

What do you mean?

I'll show you

what i mean, kid.

I'll learn you

a lot of things

before we're through

with you in here.

Morg,

there's company in the parlor.

Morgan's my name.

Kent's mine.

How are you?

Don't you ever have

any air in here?

Sure. Plenty.

All hot.

How long

you been here?

Three years.

What for?

Robbery.

I can't stand

thieves.

Hey, my cigarettes.

What?

You took

my cigarettes.

Why, you dirty

little liar. You didn't have no cigarettes.

Yes, i did,

and you stole them.

Aw, stop your

bellyaching before i slough you one.

Come on. Give me back

those cigarettes.

You're dingy.

You didn't have no cigarettes.

Give me those

cigarettes! Aw, get out!

I'll show you crooks

i won't stand for treatment like this.

Hey, guards! Guards!

Aw, stop

your squawking.

Crooks, are we?

Well, mr. High hat, i'll show you-

come on.

Let go of me!

Pipe down.

Pipe down.

Hey, hey, hey. What's wrong in here?

He took

my cigarettes.

Did he, morgan?

I don't know, sir. I was asleep.

Did you take

the kid's cigarettes?

They're no, sir,

both lying. So help me-

less noise, or you'll

spend your first night in the dungeon.

Aw, don't

put the kid in the cooler.

He's green.

He just went off his nut.

He won't

do it again.

Well, you watch your step.

Understand?

Well,

mr. Yellowbelly,

you're going to get

your first lesson right now.

You can't squeal

in stir.

That's that.

Now, lay off

that stuff, butch. Do you hear?

Aw, he's only

stunned. I didn't bat him hard.

Put him

in his bunk.

Yeah?

Yeah.

O.k.

Now give him back

his cigarettes.

What?

You heard me.

Why, i ain't got

his old weeds.

Don't lie to me,

butch.

Say, listen,

i bumped off guys

for calling me

a liar.

Yeah, and look

where you are now.

Who, me?

Yes, you.

Well, look where

you are, too.

That's right, butch,

both of us...

the quick and the dead,

the clever and the dumb.

What?

You know,

from the neck down,

you're

a regular guy, butch.

Now, give the kid back

his cigarettes.

Who, me?

Yes, you.

O.k.

I was only kidding.

Just kidding,

that's all.

Sure. I knew that

all the time.

Now, put them up

in his pocket.

I said, put them up

in his pocket.

Gee!

It reminds me

of sadie.

Gee...

sadie was

a good old skirt.

I shouldn't

have slipped her that ant poison.

I should have just batted her in the jaw

get off

of my stones, will you?

Get back in line there!

Hey, is everything

all set?

Sure.

Quiet.

Here he comes.

Uh, kent, we hear

you're slated to get out soon.

What do you mean?

Who told you that?

Jim's a trustee

over in the warden's office.

He's in

on everything.

And he heard

something about me?

Yeah. The warden says

you're too nice a kid to keep here.

They're

going to sure, let me go? They are.

How soon?

Oh, just as soon

as the warden

gets

the o.k. From the governor.

Are you

kent marlowe?

Yeah.

Wallace

wants to see you.

What does he want

to see me for?

Why, to tell you

the good news-that you've been pardoned.

Wait a minute.

Well, ain't you

gonna say good-bye?

Sure. Good-bye.

Be good, kent.

So long, kid.

Hey!

Where

you headed?

Captain wallace

wants to see me.

You can't

go in there. Get back.

What's the row out here?

They said you wanted

to see me, sir, about my parole.

Who said that?

Well, they did-

that trustee over there where...

it's true, isn't it?

They weren't

ribbing me, were they?

Sure. They're

kidding you, kent.

Well, then i'm

not going out?

No. You're going

to be with us for a long time.

Go on. Beat it.

You're not sore,

are you?

What's

the matter, boy?

Are you

going home?

Hey, you!

Don't gang up here.

Come on.

Keep this place clear.

Scatter out.

Hey, pop.

Any letters

for me?

Move on, now.

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Frances Marion

Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American journalist, author, film director and screenwriter often cited as the most renowned female screenwriter of the 20th century alongside June Mathis and Anita Loos. She was the first writer to win two Academy Awards. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "The Big House" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_big_house_19778>.

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