Up the River (1930)

Morris: [In the prison: recognizing another inmate, one who apparently caused him to end up in prison] Jessell!
Jessell, man who caused Morris' incarceration: Well, if it ain't little Morris! So YOU'RE here?
Morris: Yes, I'm here. And YOU'RE here, too, where you belong.
Jessell, man who caused Morris' incarceration: Ah, ya' got me all wrong, kid. I lost more money on that horse than YOU did.
Morris: Did you, Jessell? Did you lose your position and money and friends? And mother?... She died at my trial. You killed her. If it hadn't been for you...
Jessell, man who caused Morris' incarceration: Shut up, ya' little swine! You were a thief long before I knew ya'!
Morris: [Lunges and grabs Jessel] That's a lie! Take it back! Take it back!
Steve Jordan: [Jumping in to break it up] Cut it out! Cut it out!
Steve Jordan: Go on, scram!
[Shoves Jessel away; Jessel runs off, Morris remains with downcast look on face]
Steve Jordan: .
Steve Jordan: Don't do that... Come on, don't take it so hard.
Morris: I can't help it. How did your family feel?
Steve Jordan: [Pensively pausing] Well, they don't know. I changed my name... They think I'm in China.
Morris: How'd you do that?
Steve Jordan: Well, I got friends out there. They forward my letters home and cable my folks once a month.
[Loud prison bell rings]
Steve Jordan: I'll see ya' around. I work in the office over there. I gotta' lot of new fish comin' in. You know - associates, inmates. Come on, son. Buck up, boy.
[Gives Morris a reassuring pat and heads off]

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Saint Louis: Steve, you're on the square with Judy, aren't ya'?
Steve Jordan: You bet I am!
Saint Louis: That's all we wanted to know.

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Saint Louis: [Cautioning Steve on why he should not embark on a violent act of vengeance] Steve, did you ever see a guy go to the 'chair'? Huh? Well, I did. I spent eight months in that Condemned Row. Watched 'em go, one by one. Pals of mine. Guys you'd say 'good morning' to in the morning. And 'good night' to at night. And then they'd go. And I'd wait, day after day, week after week, month after month, wondering if I was gonna' be the next to go.
Saint Louis: [Voice rising with emotion] Let me tell ya', that's no picnic, kid! Listenin' to the drone of that lousy motor and watchin' those lights go dim...
Saint Louis: [pauses to let the words sink in] Steve, come on, don't be a sap.

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This is the only movie in which Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy co-star. Although Tracy and Bogart were good friends, they never appeared in another movie together, as Bogart was tied to a contract with Warner Bros. for much of his career while Tracy was bound first to Fox, and then (most famously) to MGM. When the freelance era rolled around in the 1950s and both were free of their studio contracts, the two talked about co-starring together in a picture, but according to Tracy's lover Katharine Hepburn, they could never agree on who would get top billing (although Tracy was the more respected thespian, Bogart was more popular at the box office; however, after playing second-fiddle to Clark Gable for many years at MGM, Tracy wasn't about to accept second billing at that time in his career). Hepburn recalled they considered a suggested compromise that would have created an "X"-shaped credit in which Humphrey Tracy would have co-starred with Spencer Bogart, when read normally.
Broadway producer Herman Shumlin granted Spencer Tracy two weeks leave from his hit drama "The Last Mile" after the actor appealed to him for the opportunity to work for John Ford in this picture.
The first of Humphrey Bogart's feature-length films to be released, on October 12, 1930. His second, "A Devil with Women", was released six days later, on October 18.
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