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The Big House   1930         N/R, 84 min. Genre: Drama Director: George W. Hill   Cast: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams, George F. Marion, J.C. Nugent, Karl Dane, DeWitt Jennings, Claire McDowell   Based on a violent prison break in 1929, this film set the standard for prison movies that followed. Kent (a young Robert Montgomery) is sent to prison for killing pedestrians while driving drunk. There he is amidst hardened criminals in a tough, overcrowded environment. Mean criminal Butch (Wallace Beery) plans the breakout in this violent (for that time) movie. The film won Academy Awards for Best Sound and Writing; Beery was nominated for Best Actor and the film was nominated for Best Picture.