The Big Clock (1948)

March 18, 1948 (US) • Crime, Thriller • 95m

Overview

George Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor, has to postpone a vacation with his wife - again - when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build evidence that he is the killer.

Director

John Farrow

Writers

Kenneth Fearing, Jonathan Latimer

Top Billed

Ray Milland

Keywords

new york city based on novel or book clock magazine film noir murder framed for a crime publisher crime fiction writer sundial

Where to watch

Free / Included

Rent

Buy

Top Billed Cast

Ray Milland

George Stroud

Charles Laughton

Earl Janoth

Maureen O'Sullivan

Georgette Stroud

George Macready

Steve Hagen

Rita Johnson

Pauline York

Elsa Lanchester

Louise Patterson

Harold Vermilyea

Don Klausmeyer

Dan Tobin

Roy Cordette

Harry Morgan

Bill Womack

Richard Webb

Nat Sperling

Elaine Riley

Lily Gold

Luis van Rooten

Edwin Orlin

Lloyd Corrigan

McKinley

Frank Orth

Burt

Margaret Field

Second Secretary

Philip Van Zandt

Sidney Kislav

Henri Letondal

Antique Dealer

Douglas Spencer

Bert Finch

Bobby Watson

Morton Spalding

B.G. Norman

George Jr.

Joey Ray

Joe Talbot

Frances Morris

Grace Adams

Harry Rosenthal

Charlie

Ernö Verebes

Waiter

James Burke

O'Brien

Lucille Barkley

Hatcheck Girl

Bess Flowers

Woman in Conference Room (uncredited)

Noel Neill

Elevator Operator (uncredited)

Julia Faye

Secretary (uncredited)

Theresa Harris

Daisy (uncredited)

Lucy Knoch

Secretary (uncredited)

Judy Nugent

Penelope Patterson (uncredited)

Ruth Roman

Secretary at Meeting (uncredited)

Bea Allen

Betty (uncredited)

Franklyn Farnum

(uncredited)

Chuck Hamilton

Guard at Janoth Building (uncredited)

Bert Moorhouse

Editor at Conference Table (uncredited)

Harry Anderson

Guard (uncredited)

James Carlisle

Van Spove (uncredited)

Al Ferguson

Guard at Janoth Building (uncredited)

Frank Hagney

Ice Man (uncredited)

Norman Leavitt

Tourist (uncredited)

Lee Miller

Man from 'Airways' in Elevator (uncredited)

Dick Gordon

Minor Role (uncredited)

Barry Norton

Man at Van Barth's (uncredited)

Lester Dorr

Cabby (uncredited)

Robert Stevenson

Cab Driver (uncredited)

Crew

John Farrow

Director

Kenneth Fearing

Novel

Jonathan Latimer

Screenplay

LeRoy Stone

Editor

John F. Seitz

Director of Photography

Roland Anderson

Art Direction

Albert Nozaki

Art Direction

Herbert Coleman

Assistant Director

Hugo Grenzbach

Sound Recordist

Richard Maibaum

Producer

Gene Garvin

Sound Recordist

Hans Dreier

Art Direction

Sam Comer

Set Decoration

Ross Dowd

Set Decoration

Edith Head

Costume Design

Victor Young

Original Music Composer

Eda Warren

Supervising Editor

Wally Westmore

Makeup Supervisor

Gordon Jennings

Special Effects

Reviews

John Chard

⭐ 9/10

January 5, 2019

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

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The Big Clock (1948)

Kenneth Fearing, Jonathan Latimer

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

John Chard

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