Crime

Thriller

The Big Clock

Paramount Pictures

United States of America

Italiano

English

Ray Milland

Charles Laughton

Maureen O'Sullivan

George Macready

Rita Johnson

Elsa Lanchester

Harold Vermilyea

Dan Tobin

Harry Morgan

Richard Webb

Elaine Riley

Luis van Rooten

Lloyd Corrigan

Frank Orth

Margaret Field

Philip Van Zandt

Henri Letondal

Douglas Spencer

Bobby Watson

B.G. Norman

Joey Ray

Frances Morris

Harry Rosenthal

Ernö Verebes

James Burke

Lucille Barkley

Bess Flowers

Noel Neill

Julia Faye

Theresa Harris

Lucy Knoch

Judy Nugent

Ruth Roman

Bea Allen

Franklyn Farnum

Chuck Hamilton

Bert Moorhouse

Harry Anderson

James Carlisle

Al Ferguson

Frank Hagney

Norman Leavitt

Lee Miller

Dick Gordon

Barry Norton

Lester Dorr

Robert Stevenson

John Farrow

Kenneth Fearing

Jonathan Latimer

LeRoy Stone

John F. Seitz

Roland Anderson

Albert Nozaki

Herbert Coleman

Hugo Grenzbach

Richard Maibaum

Gene Garvin

Hans Dreier

Sam Comer

Ross Dowd

Edith Head

Victor Young

Eda Warren

Wally Westmore

Gordon Jennings

How did I get into this rat race?  

Egomaniac publisher Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton) murders his mistress in a fit of temper. He then uses all his power and connections to pin the crime on another man seen close to the crime. George Stroud (Ray Milland), editor of Janoth's own Crimeways magazine, is put in charge of tracing the mystery man. Which is fine until he finds that as he digs deeper, all the evidence points to he himself being the fall guy! 

Ostensibly film noir it may be, but The Big Clock still has something to offer even the most casual of cinema goer. Directed by the still criminally undervalued John Farrow, The Big Clock has a touch of the Alfred Hitchcock "wrong man" theme about it. Based on a novel written by Kenneth Fearing, Farrow and his writer, Jonathan Latimer, have managed to craft a piece that is both twisty and unique in its execution. With both things working towards a quite clever and suspenseful ending. 

As with the best of film noir, The Big Clock has an intricate plot that's awash with dubious characters and sexual ambiguity. Headed by Laughton's tyrannical philandering Janoth (apparently based on real life publisher Henry Luce), the piece boasts what maybe a gay scar-faced right hand man? (George Macready) and a butch masseur henchman (Harry Morgan playing against type). Only in the wonderful world of film noir can such characters not only exist, but also be so riveting within the film's structure. The piece is also very funny, particularly when Elsa Lanchester's batty artist Louise Patterson is on the screen. I almost fell off my chair laughing during one scene as she hands in a sketch of the wanted man, Picasso would have been proud! 

But ultimately it's the story and Ray Milland's ability to see it through that wins the day. Even with the odd little problem, such as the underusing of Maureen O' Sullivan as Stroud's wife, Georgette, thus the domestic strife feels like filler. The Big Clock still finishes as an excellently constructed picture containing interesting thematics on time (this will be down to the individual viewer) that's cunningly set in amongst a media empire environment. Remade with some success in 1987 as a political thriller (No Way Out), The Big Clock still remains the essential film to see. Crime, mystery, drama, comedy and a thriller, it has a little for everyone, even if it is basically a film noir treat. 9/10

Joe Dante on THE BIG CLOCK

The Big Clock Trailer 1948

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The Big Clock

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Cast

Ray Milland

Charles Laughton

Maureen O'Sullivan

George Macready

Rita Johnson

Elsa Lanchester

Harold Vermilyea

Dan Tobin

Harry Morgan

Richard Webb

Box office

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