Mutiny in the Big House (1939)

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A frequent visitor to contemporary TV cable services, Monogram's Mutiny in the Big House affords stalwart supporting player Charles Bickford top billing as a prison chaplain, with jailhouse-flick veteran Barton MacLane billed second as a hardened con. The nominal hero, however, is fourth-billed… More A frequent visitor to contemporary TV cable services, Monogram's Mutiny in the Big House affords stalwart supporting player Charles Bickford top billing as a prison chaplain, with jailhouse-flick veteran Barton MacLane billed second as a hardened con. The nominal hero, however, is fourth-billed Dennis Moore, sent "up the river" for forging a check. Bickford tries to save Moore's soul, while MacLane attempts to toughen up the "new fish" and involve him in a breakout scheme. Though this is the prison picture that is parodied in the like-titled Lenny Bruce comedy routine, Mr. Bruce took considerable liberties with the source material (including recasting the leads!) The film was produced by actor Grant Withers, who at one time was married to Loretta Young, and based on a story by Martin Mooney, a journalist who'd spent a few months "in stir" himself; credited for the script was Robert D. Andrews, best known for dreaming up the premise for the 1932 all-star anthology If I Had a Million. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi