Customer Reviews

The Big Clock [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is not, in my opinion, one of the great noirs, but it tells a fast-paced, well-acted story with style, tension and humor. Ray Milland plays George Stroud, dynamic editor of a crime magazine, one of many in Earl Janoth's (Charles Laughton) publishing empire. Through circumstances, he meets Laughton's mistress one evening. She later is killed. Janoth puts Stroud in charge of tracking down the murder to get an exclusive for the magazine...(not much of a spoiler ahead; the killing is shown early)...and to cover the fact that Janoth was the killer. Milland is quickly set up to take the fall.

Milland was edging into middle age and this added to the authority he brought to the role. Although he still had the charm and light comedy springingness, he is believable as a quick-thinking potential victim.

Laughton is first rate. In a couple of scenes he scurries to the elevator or across a hall and looks like a fat, dangerous spider. He helps define Janoth's character as an indulgent, morally corrupt egoist by touching his mouth and grooming a small, ridiculous moustache with a little finger.

Rita Johnson plays the mistress and is terrific. She's shrewd, sexy and sophisticated. She didn't have much of a career and, according to IMDb, apparently had a death worthy of a noir movie.

George Macready plays a smart, cold, condescending lawyer whose ethics are flexible. His range may have been be limited, but Macready was one of Hollywood's great character actors.

You might be able to find an old, used paperback of the book by Kenneth Fearing. He was a good poet who never made it. In the three or four mystery/novels he wrote he uses the device of having the characters speak for themselves in the first person, each to his or her own chapter. It takes getting used to but it becomes quite effective. Dagger of the Mind and The Loneliest Girl in the World also are very good and also, I suppose, long out of print. If you like mysteries (or dead American poets), give him a Google.

Kevin Costner's No Way Out was based on the book and this movie. In the ring, I'd give Milland over Costner on points by a wide margin; Laughton over Hackman on points but close; Macready over Patton by a knockout in the sixth; and Johnson over Sean Young by a knockout in the first. And this version over the other by a knockout in the fifth. No Way Out's conclusion is, for me, unsatisfying because it drains sympathy from the Costner hero. In The Big Clock, the ending is satisfyingly concluded with an elevator shaft and, later, a hug and a laugh.

The DVD transfer is quite good considering the age of the movie, and shouldn't be a reason for not getting the movie.

It is a real pleasure to rediscover obscure films from years ago which are still of interest today and "The Big Clock" (made in 1948) falls into this category and is well worth seeing again. At the start of this compelling thriller we find Ray Milland hiding in the "Big Clock" of the title wondering to himself how he ever got involved in murder and deception when he is just a hard working married man devoted to his family and career and completely innocent of any crime. As was usual in forties films at that time we now go into a lengthy flashback which explains everything. Ray Milland plays George Stroud who is the crime editor for "Crimeways Magazine" which specialises in solving real life crimes. Charles Laughton is Earl Janoth, head of the Janoth publishing empire which produces many successful magazines including "Crimeways". George accidentally meets up with Pauline York (Rita Johnson) in a bar unaware that she knows Janoth and is in fact his mistress - George spends the evening with her and goes back to her apartment. Unfortunately he is seen with the girl in several places quite publicly so when she is later found dead in her apartment Stroud finds himself falling under suspicion. Janoth forces Stroud to investigate the case but his personal involvement with the girl means that many witnesses can identify him as being with her on the night she was murdered. He has to use all his investigative skills to keep himself in the clear and track down the real murderer. Wife Georgette Stroud (Maureen O'Sullivan) is not very sympathetic as she is anxious to take the family on holiday (and plans to do so with or without George). Elsa Lanchester has a very good cameo role as Louise Patterson, an eccentric artist who plays a significant part in the unfolding drama. "The Big Clock" has a first rate supporting cast including George Macready, Harry Morgan, Lloyd Corrigan, Philip Van Zandt, Richard Webb and Dan Tobin. The film was directed by John Farrow who also made "Where Danger Lives" and "His Kind of Woman" (both with Robert Mitchum).

Some favourite lines from the film:

Ray Milland: "More guards, the lobby's sewed up like a sack - and they said shoot to kill. They mean you George, you. How'd I get into this rat race anyway, I'm no criminal - what happened - when did it all start?".

Milland (to Charles Laughton): "Wouldn't you steal something if you wanted it badly enough?".

Laughton (to George Macready): "Everybody knows me".

Elsa Lanchester (to Milland): "Never mind, Mr Stroud, I've few enough collectors without sending one to jail".

Charles Laughton won the Best Actor Oscar in 1932 for his role in "The Private Life of Henry VIII". Laughton was a very distinguished British actor who appeared in many prestigious films and directed the splendid "Night of the Hunter" in 1955. Ray Milland deservedly won the Best Actor Oscar for "The Lost Weekend" (directed by Billy Wilder in 1945). Milland had a long and successful career both as an actor and later as a director. Maureen O'Sullivan is best known for her role as "Jane" in the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films. She was married to John Farrow (director of "The Big Clock") and one of her daughters is of course the actress Mia Farrow.

John Farrow's "The Big Clock" is one of the great noir films of the 40's. The downside is many people have 1) rarely seen it. 2) Many haven't even heard of it! Ray Milland stars as George Stroud a man who as the film goes on will have to track down a murderer when all the clues lead to one man, him! How can he prove his innocence. And how will he get anyone to believe him? These are the interesting questions that arise as you watch this film.
George Stroud (Milland) works for a publication that somehow manages to break cases before the police do. He is also suppose to go on his honeymoon with his wife Georgette (Maureen O' Sullivan) which is long overdue ( they now have a 5 year old son!). But, his boss Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton) wants him to postpone his honeymoon. Claiming he'll give him higher pay and a month's vaction. But George knows his wife will kill him if he's not there ready to leave with her lol. Now, one thing leads to another ( I don't want to give anyway too much of the plot). But George ends up missing his train and spends the night with Janoth's mistress! Later on that night, he finds that Janoth's mistress is dead! Was it murder? Well, all directions point that way since George saw Janoth go into Pauline York's (Rita Johnson) apartment. In an attempt to cover up his actions, Janoth tells George he has to solve the case before the police get involved. "The Big Clock" has a great musical score by Victor Young, nice cimatography by Daniel L. Fapp & John F. Seitz. And, fammed costume designer Edit Head does wonderful work. All of these things give this movie the "classic" noir feel to it. There are good, solid performances by everyone, and nice directing by Farrow. This is a very pleasurable film to watch on one of those rainy, dark nights, that just feels like watching a noir film. One of the best noir films I've ever seen.

"The Big Clock" is a brilliant labyrinth of dark humor and cyclical twists and turns - rather like riding a funhouse car into the murky blackness of uncertainty but with the nervous expectation that you are about to be frightened out of your mind. The film is a taut, lean thriller that presents a curious predicament for its hero, George Stroud (Ray Milland). He's a star reporter who is assigned to cover the murder of a mysterious woman by his punctually obsessed editor, Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton). There's just one little wrinkle that needs to be overcome; the overworked Stroud not only knows the woman in question but spent the night with her before she met with her untimely demise. There's also something else to consider; the woman was Janoth's mistress. Now the question arises for Stroud: how to accurately cover the scoop, report all the facts, expose the killer and keep his own name out of the proceedings. Both men are feverishly working to solve the crime, unwittingly culminating in accusations that will expose both their prior relationships with the corpse. Elsa Lanchester appears as Louise Patterson, the high-strung painter whose sketch of the prime suspect slowly begins to take on the figure of George Stroud. "The Big Clock" was remade in 1987 as the Kevin Costner thriller, "No Way Out".

THE TRANSFER: The gray scale is solid, deep and rich blacks and very smooth looking whites. There are instances where contrast levels appear somewhat low and fine detail seems slightly out of focus. Often there's a muddy quality to the image. Occasionally pixelization breaks apart the background information - but only briefly and usually between dissolves. There's also a minor hint of edge enhancement that is barely noticeable. The audio is mono but very nicely cleaned up. There are no extras.

THE BIG CLOCK opens with a roaming and restless camera skimming over the big city at twilight. It finally opens onto the lobby of a modern office building, tightening in for a close-up of a frightened man who starts things off by asking himself this pregnant question - "How did I get into this?" The sweating man with the tie askew is George Stroud (Ray Milland), managing editor of Crimeways Magazine (`The police blotter of the nation') and `this' is suspicion of murder. And time is running out.
As its title and format (Stroud flashbacks to the past 36 hours) suggest, THE BIG CLOCK is obsessed with time, and the first third of it is filled with impatient people telling others that they're late, or they have exactly one minute to present their proposal, or telling another they'll be there at 4:30 sharp. Boss Earl Janath (Charles Laughton) is the worst, of course, docking pay when someone leaves a light bulb unchanged and forever messing around with that oily moustache of his. A pathological attention to detail isn't the worse thing to foster in a crime magazine staff that prides itself on its investigative abilities, although it doesn't help that this highly trained and talented staff is investigating a crime that their innocent editor Stroud seems guilty of.
THE BIG CLOCK is a fun movie, a game of wits between Janath and his minions and Stroud with a plot that twists and careens and makes us forget some of the more serious plot holes. For a suspense crime thriller director John Farrow liberally peppers the movie with comedy. The main characters play it straight, but there are a number of humorous secondary characters, and Elsa Lancaster as an abstract artist with a story to tell and a picture to paint is a totally comic character. The humor works, but it tends to succeed at the expense of the tension. The transfer print is in very good condition and was easy on the eyes. Strong recommendation.

Paramount Pictures presents "THE BIG CLOCK" (9 April 1948) (95 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- A woman has been murdered, and a witness has a description of a suspect leaving her apartment --- A magazine editor (Ray Milland) knows that he is the man that the witness saw - but he's innocent, and he must investigate the crime and pretend to search for the suspect --- He only has an hour to nail his boss, the real killer (Charles Laughton), before being identified himself --- Maureen O'Sullivan (Mrs. Farrow) helps him out, George Macready is Laughton's evil sidekick, and Elsa Lanchester turns up in a brief, but funny and marvelous bit part.

Milland's performance is great as he runs the spectrum of behavior from a sort of affable cockiness in the beginning, to severe anxiety as the suspense builds --- Charles Laughton is simply amazing as always --- His Janoth character is a detestable autocrat, yet his rakish behavior coupled with a vermouth dry sense of humor makes him the core delight of the film.

Under the production staff of:
John Farrow [Director]
Jonathan Latimer [Screenplay]
Kenneth Fearing [Novel]
Richard Maibaum [Producer]
Victor Young [Original Music]
Daniel L. Fapp [Cinematographer]
John F. Seitz [Director of Photography)
LeRoy Stone [Film Editor]
Roland Anderson [Art Director]
Hans Dreier [Art Director]
Albert Nozaki [Art Director]


BIOS:
1. John Farrow [aka: John N.B. Villiers-Farrow] [Director]
Date of Birth: 10 February 1904 - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Date of Death: 28 January 1963 - Beverly Hills, California

2. Ray Milland [aka: Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones]
Date of Birth: 3 January 1905 - Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
Date of Death: 10 March 1986 - Torrance, California

3. Charles Laughton
Date of Birth: 1 July 1899 - Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, UK
Date of Death: 15 December 1962 - Hollywood, California

the cast includes:
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 - Ray Cordette
Harry Morgan - Bill Womack (as Henry Morgan)
Richard Webb - Nat Sperling

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 95 min on DVD ~ Paramount Pictures ~ (07/06/2004)

This film is not famous, and its credentials are off the beaten path: director Farrow and lead Milland, a respectable actor who isn't usually considered 'tops.'

WOW - what a delightful surprise. The sets alone are worth watching the movie for. Direction is tight and always kept my interest. Photography is clear and appropriately atmospheric.

All the actors are very good, but the standout is Rita Johnson. What a talent was lost when her career was cut short by an injury! She's sexy, elegant, and just facetious enough to be believable as an 'adventuress.' The rapport among all the actors is just what you hope for in an ensemble piece like this, and the interest doesn't wane after Johnson's character dies.

You've GOT to see this if you have any interest at all in 40s suspense films. I bet you'll enjoy the heck out of it, and like me, wonder why Rita Johnson wasn't a big star when far inferior actresses, whom it would be ungentlemanly to name, had big careers.

Movie: ****1/2 DVD Transfer: **** Extras: ***1/2

Eccentric magazine magnate Charles Laughton has murdered his mistress, and plans to pin the crime on the unidentified man she spent her last evening carousing with in public, all over town. What Laughton doesn't know is that the mysterious man is none other than Ray Milland, who heads up Laughton's true crime magazine ... and whom Laughton has put in charge of the manhunt! It's a race against time as Milland tries to get proof of Laughton's guilt before Laughton figures out that Milland himself is involved. Quite a convoluted little plot, with some major holes along the way, but the film is so distinctively acted, suspensefully directed, and brilliantly photographed that it's easy to ignore the story's over-reliance on coincidence and just enjoy the ride.

The film boasts a great cast, the members of which seem to be having a wonderful time. Laughton is deliciously hammy and flamboyant in his villainous role, providing a perfect counterpoint to Milland's straightforward heroics. The two are reunited with beautiful leading lady Maureen O'Sullivan, with whom they had appeared sixteen years previously in "Payment Deferred"; here she plays Milland's oft-neglected but ever-supportive wife (in real life, O'Sullivan was married to the film's director, John Farrow). George Macready gives a sterling supporting performance as Laughton's right hand man, and Rita Johnson is just right as Laughton's doomed mistress. Other performers of note include Elsa Lanchester acting way over the top as a neurotic artist; Henry ("Harry") Morgan playing memorably against type as a sadistic hitman; veteran character actor Frank Orth turning in a nice bit as a bar owner; and the lovely actress with a golden voice, Teresa Harris, appearing unbilled as O'Sullivan's maid.

The DVD transfer of "The Big Clock" is of more than acceptable quality, marred only by some contrast fluttering in a nighttime scene at the beginning of the movie. This flaw appears to happen again near the film's climax - in a scene which takes place in the clockworks room - but this time, careful viewers will note that the effect is intentional, caused by light reflecting on moving metal bars that serve as part of the set decorations. Although not noted on the DVD package, the disc does indeed include the film's Original Theatrical Trailer, a rather interesting piece of film in and of itself.

I read Kenneth Fearing's "Big Clock" more years ago than I care to tell (hint: JFK was president). Even then, the book was something of an echo from the past: closer in style, if not chronology, to Hammet than Spillane, yet with a poetic style that used symbolism more artfully than either of those two authors. The inexorable ticking of the metaphorical big clock rang in my ears on every page as the hero of the tale, George Stroud, sank deeper and deeper into a complicated web of corporate politics, sex, and murder.

The movie, which I just saw, retains some of the symbolism of the novel but it turns most of the book's symbolic objects into little more than props. The screenplay suffers from its determination to erase anything from the book that was sexy, ethnic or subtle. George doesn't sleep with the blonde in the movie, he just passes out in her apartment. The blond's last name is changed from the Greek-sounding "Delos" to the more Anglo "York." And George doesn't call the painting of the two hands "the Judas Picture;" it's just "two hands." So we lose the metaphorical connection between the picture and the back-stabbing hypocrisy that threatens George throughout the film.

Ray Milland is fairly solid as George, but, although Laughton is always interesting to watch, his mustache-twisting villiany sometimes makes him look like a pudgy Snidely Whiplash. However, I do think the scene involving Laughton, the blonde and the sundial, is brilliantly acted and directed.

Costume design is good: the corporate "suits" in their ivory towers look appropriately polished while they cheat, lie, and point accusing fingers at each other. But set design is terrible: the exterior of the building that houses the vast publishing empire looks like a Travelodge and the interiors look like they were assembled from concrete blocks. Charles Laughton, who plays the CEO, has an office that's so barren it looks like they repossesed the furniture.

With all its faults, though, the movie still manages to retain much of what's good about the novel and it is a fairly good example of American Film Noir. If you are a died-in-the-wool fan of that genre, you'll appreciate this movie.

Humor is pretty scarce in film noir -- the giggles come hard while staring into the abyss. Paramount's ''The Big Clock'' pauses for comic relief while recounting the story of a media executive (Ray Milland) racing to solve the murder of his boss's mistress. The film feels like one of Hitchcock's wrong-man tales. ''Big Clock'' is rightly famed for its sweeping modernistic sets, but this disc's indifferent transfer makes it hard to appreciate them. Time for a restoration.