Murder in the Big House

Murder in the Big House is a black-and-white American crime drama, released by Warner Bros in April 1942. Structured as an hour-long second feature, it is directed by the prolific specialist in low-budget action productions, B. Reeves Eason, and stars Van Johnson, who is top-billed above the title, in his first credited film role which represents the entire output of his six-month contract with the studio.

The female lead, Faye Emerson, billed alongside Johnson above the title, played starring and co-starring parts in a small number of B pictures during 1940s and achieved TV stardom at the end of the decade and in the 1950s as a glamorous interviewer and personality during the medium's formative years.

Following Johnson's rise to become the 1945 top box-office attraction as a leading man and Emerson's marriage to the president's son, Elliott Roosevelt, the film was re-released to theaters in late 1945 and early 1946 under the title Born for Trouble.

Upon receiving a message from death row inmate "Dapper Dan" Malloy (Michael Ames), "Scoop" Conner (George Meeker), top investigative reporter for the Morning News, visits him in prison and learns that before he is to die in the electric chair the following day, Malloy intends to incriminate some top officials complicit in corruption and the murder of the district attorney for which Malloy and his criminal associate "Mile-Away" Gordon (Roland Drew) were sentenced. Trying to prevent the exposure, Malloy's lawyer Bill Burgen (Douglas Wood), himself a member of the corrupt clique, falsely comforts Malloy with the claim that the governor will pardon him after first commuting the sentence to life imprisonment during a radio speech.

New young reporter Bert Bell (Van Johnson) who hopes to convince chief editor Jim "Pop" Ainslee (Joseph Crehan) to give him a chance to cover important events, talks about it with another young reporter, Gladys Wayne (Faye Emerson), who gives him quick-witted supportive advice. Meanwhile, Ainslee contacts the governor and, finding out that the execution will proceed as scheduled, assigns "Scoop" to go to the prison for Malloy's incriminating information. "Scoop", however, has managed to drink himself into a stupor, so Gladys takes the quick decision of handling it herself and has Bert accompany her to the prison. The night of the execution is stormy and reverberates with thunder as Warden Bevins (William Gould) tells the assembled reporters that Malloy has just been punished by a higher power via the bolt of lightning which fatally struck him through the window of his cell.