Big House, USA **** (1955, Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, Reed Hadley, Lon Chaney Jr, Charles Bronson, William Talman) – Classic Movie Review 10,686

‘We’re bustin’ out of this tomb… And we don’t care how many of you we have to kill!’

Director Howard W Koch’s 1955 black and white film noir crime thriller Big House, USA stars Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, Lon Chaney Jr, Charles Bronson, William Talman and Reed Hadley.

G-Man Special FBI Agent James Madden (Hadley) and his agents try to trap the convicts (Crawford, Chaney Jr, Bronson, Talman) who are escaping jail in order to pick up crook Gerry ‘the ice man’ Barker (Meeker)’s $200,000 ransom money, after Barker (Meeker) has abducted young boy Danny Lambert (Peter J Votrian) for the loot from the boy’s father and been caught by agent Madden.

Barker was sent to prison, where the warden put him together with the four most hardened convicts, bank robber Rollo Lamar (Crawford ), smuggler Alamo Smith (Chaney Jr), and cold-blooded killers Mason (Talman) and Benny  Kelly (Bronson), all of whom break out from the prison, taking Barker along.

It is only a grade B-movie maybe, but this is a grade-A team for a tense, compelling, violent prison-break drama. Talman’s display of villainy as Machine Gun Mason is quite a thing to behold, and Crawford (as Rollo Lamar) and Meeker are equally chilling. Even if the brutality couldn’t be as upfront then, it is a superior, tautly handled, exciting tough-man’s movie.

It is written by John C Higgins, based on a story by George W George and George F Slavin.

The 23-year-old Felicia Farr {born Olive Felicia Dines), is billed as Randy Farr and makes her film debut as Emily Evans. However, Farr was to make her official debut a year later in Jubal (1956) as Felicia Farr, also co-starring Bronson. In Big House, USA, they share no scenes together but they do in Jubal.

Also in the cast are Felicia Farr [Randy Farr], Peter J Votrian, Roy Roberts, Willis Bouchey and Robert Bray.

The film was released by United Artists on 3 March 1955.

Big House, USA is directed by Howard W Koch, runs 83 minutes, is made by Bel-Air Productions and Camden Productions Inc, is released by United Artists, is written by John C Higgins, based on a story by George W George and George F Slavin, is shot by Gordon Avil, is produced by Aubrey Schenck and scored by Paul Dunlap, with Production Design by Charles D Hall.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,686

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com