Editing The Big House (1930 film) (section)

==Background==
The story was inspired by a spate of prison riots in 1929 and resulting federal investigation. In response, George Hill wrote a twenty-seven page story treatment called "The Reign of Terror: A Story of Crime and Punishment". [[Irving Thalberg]] gave the go ahead for the screenplay and assigned Frances Marion to work with George Hill.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Without Lying Down|last=Beauchamp|first=Cari|publisher=University of California Press|year=1997|isbn=9780520214927}}</ref>

[[Lon Chaney]] was originally chosen for the role of Butch, a violent career criminal who rules the prison cellblock, but the cancer from which he was to die in August 1930 had already advanced too far and the role went to Wallace Beery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/movies/homevideo/riot-in-cell-block-11-and-the-big-house-on-dvd.html?_r=0|title=The Pen Is Mighty as a Message|last=Hoberman|first=J.|date=May 22, 2014|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 27, 2015}}</ref> The movie launched Beery's sound career to new heights; a top supporting actor and frequent leading man in silents, he had been dropped by his previous studio Paramount when sound came in even though he recorded a successful voice test. After ''The Big House'' became a hit and his performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor in a Leading Role]], he became the world's highest-paid actor within two years.

The story and dialogue were written by [[Frances Marion]], with additional dialogue by [[Joe Farnham]] and [[Martin Flavin]]. Marion won the [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Academy Award for Best Writing Achievement]]. [[Douglas Shearer]] also won the first [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Academy Award for Sound]]. The film was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]].<ref name="Oscars1929">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1931|title=The 3rd Academy Awards (1929/30) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 5, 2011|work=oscars.org}}</ref> ''The Big House'' was one of the first [[prison film]]s ever made and was tremendously influential on the genre.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/41/the-big-house#articles-reviews|title=The Big House|last=Toole|first=Michael T.|website=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|access-date=March 27, 2015}}</ref>