Le Pacte des tueurs

Original title: Big House, U.S.A.

1955
Approved
1h 23m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Charles Bronson, Lon Chaney Jr., Broderick Crawford, Felicia Farr, and Reed Hadley in Le Pacte des tueurs (1955)

Gerry Barker finds a lost boy whose rich father is extorted into paying a ransom for his return but the boy accidentally dies and Gerry goes to prison.Gerry Barker finds a lost boy whose rich father is extorted into paying a ransom for his return but the boy accidentally dies and Gerry goes to prison.Gerry Barker finds a lost boy whose rich father is extorted into paying a ransom for his return but the boy accidentally dies and Gerry goes to prison.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

1.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos57

+ 53

Top cast19

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Broderick Crawford

Rollo Lamar

Ralph Meeker

Gerry Barker

Reed Hadley

Special FBI Agent James Madden

William Talman

'Machine Gun' Mason

Lon Chaney Jr.

Alamo Smith
(as Lon Chaney)

Charles Bronson

Benny Kelly

Felicia Farr

Emily Evans
(as Randy Farr)

Roy Roberts

Chief Ranger Will Erickson

Willis Bouchey

Robertson Lambert
(as Willis B. Bouchey)

Peter J. Votrian

Danny Lambert
(as Peter Votrian)

Robert Bray

Ranger McCormick

William Boyett

Ranger at Park Exit
(uncredited)

Nelson Leigh

Madden's FBI Supervisor
(uncredited)

Gregg Martell

Accomplice on Fishing Boat
(uncredited)

Bill McLean

Dipsy
(uncredited)

Jan Merlin

Tommy
(uncredited)

Joe Ploski

Convict
(uncredited)

Stafford Repp

Prison Warden Machek
(uncredited)

Director
- Howard W. Koch
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
There are two actors who played Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (and both share a scene together): Robert Bray in My Gun Is Quick (1957), and the most famous, that came out the same year as this movie, Ralph Meeker in En quatrième vitesse (1955).

Goofs
When they're fishing, the fish Rollo has on his line when he pulls it out of the water is obviously already dead.

Quotes
Rollo Lamar: Any of you geniuses know what "apparently" means?
Alamo Smith: "Apparently?"
Rollo Lamar: Yeah.
Benny Kelly: Yeah, it means that something that ain't, looks like it is.

Connections
Featured in Kain's Quest: The Stone Killer (2015)

User reviews24

Featured review

6/10

Low Budget-Ransom should have been used to produce

This film is not the best of it's genre. It is like a low budget version of the 1950's Dragnet series. The cast is something else.

Broderirck Crawford, William Talman, a young Charles Bronson, & Lon Chaney Jr make interesting cell mates in a maximum security island prison. When the Ice Man joins them, they hatch an escape plot involving his ransom money. Like Dragnet, in this movie, the police appear to be a lot smarter than the crooks/murderers/thieves.

This could have been better but it is obvious that this is a low budget thriller. The acting talent only gets an average script to work with. While the film is based on fact, it does not quite rise to the level of a great film.

For those who like the familiar faces it is OK. It is fictionally based upon a real incident. Only the names were changed to protect the guilty, or is that innocent? Actually, the story is good enough to involve the viewer, but it does not become a must see movie.