Editing The Big House (1930 film) (section)

==Reception==
[[Mordaunt Hall]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' described it as "a film in which the direction, the photography, the microphone work and the magnificent acting take precedence over the negligible story."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E02EEDE1038E03ABC4D51DFB066838B629EDE|title=The Screen|last=Hall|first=Mordaunt|author-link=Mordaunt Hall|date=June 25, 1930|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 27, 2015}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called it a "virile, realistic melodrama".<ref>{{cite magazine|date=July 2, 1930|title=The Big House|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|location=New York|publisher=Variety, Inc.|page=25}}</ref> [[John Mosher]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' wrote, "So expert are many of the scenes, so effective the photography, so direct and spare the dialogue, that certain obvious, silly, and dull moments may almost be overlooked."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Mosher|first=John|author-link=John Mosher (writer)|date=July 5, 1930|title=The Current Cinema|magazine=The New Yorker|location=New York|publisher=F-R Publications Corp.|page=50}}</ref>

Wallace Beery was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] for his role in ''The Big House'', cementing his career in sound films, and won the following year for ''[[The Champ (1931 film)|The Champ]]'' (1931).

According to MGM records ''The Big House'' took in approximately $1,279,000 in [[Theatrical rental|theater rentals]] from the United States and Canada, an additional $436,000 from foreign rentals, and earned a profit of $462,000.<ref name="mannix"/><ref name="mannixa"/>

The February 2020 issue of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' lists ''The Big House'' as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html|magazine=[[New York Magazine]]|access-date=March 17, 2025}}</ref>