''The Big Clock'' is a 1948 American film noir directed by

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

and adapted by novelist-screenwriter Jonathan Latimer from the 1946 novel of the same title by

Kenneth Fearing Kenneth Flexner Fearing (July 28, 1902 – June 26, 1961) was an American poet and novelist. A major poet of the Depression era, he addressed the shallowness and consumerism of American society as he saw it, often by ironically adapting the lan ...

. The

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

film is set in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and stars Ray Milland, Charles Laughton and

Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William ...

Elsa Lanchester Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a British-American actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.Obituary '' Variety'', 31 December 1986. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the F ...

and

Harry Morgan Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both ''December Bride'' (1954–1959 ...

, in an early film role, also appear.

Noel Neill Noel Darleen Neill (November 25, 1920 – July 3, 2016) was an American actress. She played Lois Lane in the film serials ''Superman'' (1948) and '' Atom Man vs. Superman'' (1950), as well as the 1950s television series '' Adventures of Superman ...

has an uncredited part as an elevator operator very early in the film.

Plot

George Stroud, editor-in-chief of ''Crimeways'' magazine, hides from building security inside the "big clock," which is the largest and most sophisticated clock ever built. The clock dominates the lobby of the Janoth Publications building in

, where Stroud works. Thirty-six hours earlier, Stroud is eager to embark on a long-postponed honeymoon in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

with his wife Georgette and son. His tyrannical boss Earl Janoth wants him to stay to pursue a missing-person story that Stroud has just cracked, but Stroud refuses and Janoth fires him. Stroud goes to a bar to drink and is distracted by the attentions of Janoth's glamorous mistress Pauline York, who proposes a blackmail plan against Janoth. When Stroud loses track of time and misses the train for West Virginia, Georgette angrily leaves without him. Stroud spends the evening drinking with York, and he buys a painting and a sundial. Stroud and York go to her apartment, but York sees Janoth arriving and Stroud leaves. Janoth sees someone leaving but does not recognize Stroud in the dark. Janoth assumes that York is cheating on him, leading to a quarrel in which he strikes York with the sundial, killing her. Janoth goes to his assistant Hagen and tells him what happened, intending to surrender to the police and confess. However, Hagen convinces him that they can frame the man whom Janoth saw leaving York's apartment for the crime. Janoth decides to use the resources of ''Crimeways'' to find the man instead of calling the police. Stroud has since caught up with his wife and son in West Virginia and tells her that he has been fired, but leaves out his adventures with York. Janoth calls to rehire him in order to lead the effort to find the mystery man (without any mention of York). He discloses enough details for Stroud to know that the mystery man is Stroud himself. He reluctantly agrees to return to his job and lead the manhunt, to Georgette's disappointment. During the manhunt, Stroud must appear to lead the investigation diligently while also preventing the investigation from identifying him as the culprit. He must also secretly conduct his own investigation to prove Janoth's guilt. Eventually York is identified by the ''Crimeways'' team and witnesses are found who saw her on the town with the mystery man. The witnesses are brought to the Janoth Building. One is eccentric artist Louise Patterson, who created the painting that Stroud purchased. Asked to paint a portrait of the mystery man, she produces a modernist abstract of blobs and swirls. Stroud tries to avoid the witnesses, but one of them sees and recognizes him as the mystery man. Stroud slips away before the witness identifies him to the investigators, who now know that the mystery man is in the building but do not know his identity. All exits from the building are sealed, and the building's occupants must leave by the main door, with the witnesses watching for the mystery man. Building security men sweep the building to find the wanted man. Stroud evades the dragnet by various maneuvers, finally hiding in the clock. He confronts Janoth and Hagen and presents evidence that appears to point to Hagen as the killer. Hagen implores Janoth to clear him, but Janoth tells him only that he will provide him with the best possible legal defense. Enraged, Hagen turns on Janoth and reveals that Janoth killed York and that he helped with the coverup. Janoth shoots Hagen and tries to escape in an elevator, but the car is stuck floors below (jammed there by Stroud earlier while evading the security men). Janoth falls down the elevator shaft to his death.

Cast

* Ray Milland as George Stroud * Charles Laughton as Earl Janoth *

as Georgette Stroud *

George Macready George Peabody Macready Jr. (August 29, 1899 – July 2, 1973) was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains. Early life Macready was born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 29, 1899. He graduated ...

as Steve Hagen *

Rita Johnson Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...

as Pauline York *

as Louise Patterson *

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan ( cy, Harri Morgan; – 25 August 1688) was a privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming we ...

as Bill Womack *

Harold Vermilyea Harold Vermilyea (October 10, 1889 – January 7, 1958) was an American actor who had a long and prolific career on Broadway, performing in 32 plays over the course of his career. He made notable appearances in several films of the post-war era, p ...

as Don Klausmeyer *

Dan Tobin Daniel Malloy Tobin (October 19, 1910 – November 26, 1982) was an American supporting actor on the stage, in films and on television. He generally played gentle, urbane, rather fussy, sometimes obsequious and shifty characters, often with a c ...

as Ray Cordette * Richard Webb as Nat Sperling *

Elaine Riley Elaine Riley (January 15, 1917 – December 7, 2015) was an American film and television actress. Early years The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Riley, Riley was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, on January 15, 1917. She won the Miss East Liverpool ...

as Lily Gold *

Luis Van Rooten Luis d'Antin van Rooten (November 29, 1906 – June 17, 1973) was a Mexican-born American actor. He was sometimes credited as Louis Van Rooten. Van Rooten was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and emigrated to the United States with his parents when ...

as Edwin Orlin, a reporter * Douglas Spencer as Bert Finch, a reporter *

Bobby Watson Robert Michael Watson Jr. (born August 23, 1953), known professionally as Bobby Watson, is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator. Music career Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. He ...

as Morton Spaulding *

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

as Colonel Jefferson Randolph aka McKinley * Frank Orth as Burt *

Margaret Field Margaret Field (née Morlan; May 10, 1922 – November 6, 2011) was an American film actress usually billed as Maggie Mahoney after her marriage to actor Jock Mahoney. The mother of actress Sally Field, she was best known for her work in two scie ...

as Second Secretary *

as Elevator Operator (uncredited) * Al Ferguson as Guard (uncredited) Morgan's screen name later would become "Henry 'Harry' Morgan" and eventually Harry Morgan, to avoid confusion with the popular humorist of the same name.

Production

Paramount bought the rights to the novel before publication. (Fearing's earlier novel ''The Hospital'' (1939) had been a best seller.) The purchase price was a reported $45,000. Jonathan Latimer was assigned to write the script and Ray Milland to star.

Leslie Fenton Leslie Fenton (12 March 1902 – 25 March 1978) was an English actor and film director. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1923 and 1945. Early life Fenton was born on 12 March 1902 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He emigrated to ...

was announced as director but he was held up on '' Saigon'' so

took over. Filming began February 17, 1947. Charles Laughton was cast as the villain. This was

's first film in five years, since ''

Tarzan's New York Adventure ''Tarzan's New York Adventure'' (also known as ''Tarzan Against the World'') is a 1942 black-and-white adventure film from Metro Goldwyn Mayer, produced by Frederick Stephani, directed by Richard Thorpe, that stars Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen ...

'', after which she had concentrated on raising her family. She did it as a favor for her husband, director John Farrow.

Reception

The film was very well received by critics, and as of October 23, 2022, holds a 100% "Fresh" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' extolled the film's virtues as a thriller, writing, "When you hear the musical chime at the end of this ticking review of The Big Clock, it will be exactly the time for all devotees of detective films to make a mental memorandum to see it without possible fail." He added that the film "is a dandy clue-chaser of the modern chromium-plated type ndrequires close attention from the start ... Scriptwriter Jonathan Latimer and Director John Farrow have fetched a film which is fast-moving, humorous, atmospheric and cumulative of suspense." Film critic Bruce Eder wrote, "''The Big Clock'' is a near-perfect match for the book, telling in generally superb visual style a tale set against the backdrop of upscale 1940s New York and offering an early (but accurate) depiction of the modern media industry." In a 1996 essay film noir historians Alain Silver and James Ursini discussed Farrow's technique: "Narration and long take are combined to enhance suspense...but the other items of noir style, the dark cityscape, the camera moves, the low-key sets, all these are used to disorient the viewer." In 1998, film writer David N. Meyer wrote, "More

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

than noir, ''The Big Clock's'' big moments derive from snappy dialogue and over-the-top humor." Dennis Schwartz wrote in 2004 that "John Farrow directs this thrilling psychological film noir with style, though it's barely a work of noir in the full sense of that genre." In 2001, the American Film Institute nominated this film for AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills. ''The Big Clock'' is 27th on the list of "Most Heart Pounding Movies".

Remakes

The story was remade in 1976 as ''

Police Python 357 ''Police Python 357'' (also known as ''The Case Against Ferro'') is a 1976 French crime-thriller film written and directed by Alain Corneau. It is an adaptation of the storyline of Kenneth Fearing's 1946 novel, '' The Big Clock'', though with obvi ...

'' and in 1987 as '' No Way Out'' with

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

. The 1948 film is closest to the novel. The 1976 remake, on the other hand, updated the events to the

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, whereas the 1987 remake updated the events to the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

during the Cold War.

References

External links

* * * * * *
''The Big Clock''
trailer at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Streaming audio

''The Big Clock''
on

Screen Directors Playhouse ''Screen Directors Playhouse'' (sometimes written as ''Screen Directors' Playhouse'') is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcas ...

: July 8, 1949 {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Clock, The 1948 films 1940s thriller films American thriller films American black-and-white films Film noir Films about journalists Films based on American novels Films based on crime novels Films set in Manhattan Films set in New York City Paramount Pictures films Films directed by John Farrow Films scored by Victor Young 1940s English-language films 1940s American films