The Big Clock (film)

Infobox_Film
name = The Big Clock


image_size = 215px
caption = theatrical poster
director = John Farrow
producer = John Farrow
Richard Maibaum
writer = Story:
Kenneth Fearing
Screenplay:
Jonathan Latimer
starring = Ray Milland
Charles Laughton
Maureen O'Sullivan
Harry Morgan
music = Victor Young
cinematography = Daniel L. Fapp
John Seitz
editing = LeRoy Stone
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = 9 April fy|1948 "(US)"
runtime = 95 minutes
country = FilmUS
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0040160|

"The Big Clock" is a fy|1948 film noir thriller directed by John Farrow based on the novel of the same name by Kenneth Fearing. The black-and-white is and set in New York City and stars Ray Milland and Maureen O'Sullivan. [imdb title|id=0040160|title=The Block.] Real-life married couple Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton appear in the film, as does Harry Morgan in an early film role as the film's hired thug.

Plot

The story is told in flashback. When the movie begins, Stroud (Milland) is shown hiding from the police behind the "Big Clock" ― the largest and most sophisticated clock ever built, which is in the lobby of the publishing company he works for.

Stroud, a workaholic trying to spend more time with his wife, plans a vacation from his job as a magazine crime reporter. Instead of meeting his wife to start their vacation, Stroud starts drinking and spends the evening with a blonde. Later the blonde is found dead and Stroud is tasked by his Hearst-like publishing boss (Laughton) to find the killer.

While investigating, Stroud tries to keep the facts of his night with the woman a secret because he knows he has been seen leaving the scene of the crime. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must disrupt his ordinarily brilliant team as they increasingly build evidence (albeit wrong) that he is the killer.

Cast

* Ray Milland as George Stroud
* Charles Laughton as Earl Janath
* Maureen O'Sullivan as Georgette Stroud
* George Macready as Steve Hagen
* Rita Johnson as Pauline York
* Elsa Lanchester as Louise Patterson
* Harry Morgan as Bill Womack

Reception

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." [amg movie|id=1:84976|title=The Big Clock.]

Film writer David M. Meyer calls "The Big Clock", "More screwball comedy than noir, "The Big Clock's" big moments derive from snappy dialogue and over-the-top humor." [cite book | author=David M. Meyer | title=A Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir on Video | publisher =Avon Books | year=1998 | id=ISBN 0-380-79067-X ]

The movie was one of 400 films on the nominee list for the American Film Institute's "100 Years... 100 Thrills" list of the greatest thrillers in American film history.

Remake

The story was remade in 1987 as "No Way Out" with Kevin Costner. The 1948 version is more similar to the novel, with the 1987 remake updating the events to a military, political, and Cold War setting and background.

Notes

External links

*
*
*
* [http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2007/02/big-clock-1948.html "The Big Clock"] at Film Noir of the Week