La grande horloge

The Big Clock, starring Ray Milland and Charles Laughton, is a great black and white thriller in every way. Unlike many noirs of it's time, it's not a B movie. The lighting, sets, talent and camera-work are top notch. The acting is perfect, as would be expected with a cast like this. Milland is charming and easy to route for. In fact, I usually find him kind of stiff - a little to up tight and proper. Here he seems to be a real guy with real problems. Milland was most famously known for playing an alcoholic three years earlier. In a kind of nod to that "lost weekend" there's a fun scene of him going on a bender in Manhattan - with unforeseen results. Like all noirs, a small wrong decision becomes a bigger and bigger problem latter on. When Milland decides to hang out with a hot blonde instead of going home to his wife, you just know he's gonna get into big trouble. And boy does he. The big trouble is Laughton.

I've always enjoyed Charles "Capt. Bligh" Laughton. He was such a good actor. In The Big Clock he manages to be fascinating and loathsome playing the media empire kingpin. His character has no morals, and it's fun to watch him work. He clearly enjoyed himself making this film.

Oh, and isn't Elsa Lanchester great as the crazy artist? Everyone know's Lanchester. She wore the most famous hairdos in movie history.

Remade as No Way Out with Costner and Hackman in the leads.

Most filmgoers are probably more familiar with this film's 1987 updating, "No Way Out", starring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. That said, "The Big Clock", as with most originals which later spawn remakes of one form or another, is the better film to my mind. It features Ray Milland as a workaholic crime magazine editor for a ruthless publisher (Charles Laughton). Milland has developed his own special method of catching criminals, consisting of glomming onto details that the police disregard as irrelevant. How little does he suspect that, within 24 hours, that same method is going to be used against him...

He stays the night at his boss' mistress to sleep off a hangover. When Laughton strolls in for a suprise visit, Milland manages to get away before being IDed, but not before Laughton sees his shadowy figure on the stairs. In a jealous rage, Laughton kills his mistress and later sets about framing the figure he saw...who, unknown to him, is actually the man he's putting in charge of the investigation, Milland! What follows from this setup is one of the most elaborate cat-and-mouse games I have ever seen on celluloid, the key difference here being that the cat has no idea who the mouse is.

The leads are what make this film stand out. Milland was always very good at playing "the man caught in the middle" and this time is no exception. Kirk Douglas once noted in his autobiography, "The Ragman's Son", that whenever Laughton speaks his lines, it's as though the words just suddenly occurred to him rather than reciting something from memory. It's definitely put to good use here; Laughton oozes menace and coldness with no discernable effort. Other notables in the cast include Elsa Lancaster ("Bride of Frankenstein" and Laughton's real-life wife) as an eccentric artist who helps Milland and a then-unknown Harry Morgan as a silent, suspicious bodyguard to Laughton's publisher.

While perhaps not extraordinary in and of itself, "The Big Clock" is still a good film worth watching, buying, and owning.

"The Big Clock" takes some chances with unusual characters, and with complicated and sometimes outlandish plot developments, but it holds together well to produce a generally satisfying, and always interesting, suspense film. A fine cast makes us both believe in and identify with the characters, and good direction by John Farrow keeps the film moving, and blends together what otherwise could have been a lot of incongruous plot devices.

Ray Milland is a vital part of the film's success in his role as George Stroud, the editor of a crime magazine who has an amazing talent for tracking down elusive criminals. Already caught in a conflict between his neglected wife and his domineering employer, Stroud finds himself asked to direct a search for an unknown murderer in a case where, because of a chain of circumstantial evidence, all the clues point back to himself. What the audience knows, but Stroud does not, is that the real killer is his boss, played with panache by Charles Laughton, who is obsessed with time and whose proudest creation is a gigantic clock that dominates the publishing house that he runs. The title refers literally to this clock, and perhaps metaphorically refers to the urgency faced by Milland's character as he fights against time trying to extricate himself from his troubles. Milland nicely underplays all of this, and communicates his dilemmas with a lot of credibility.

The supporting cast is an important part of the film, as they must bring life and credibility to a series of oddball plot elements, and they are all quite good. Especially noteworthy is Elsa Lanchester's performance as an eccentric artist whose paintings become one of the clues to the crime. Lanchester is simply wonderful in her scenes, and the movie would be worth watching over again for those alone.

"The Big Clock" is a good example of a "film noir", and will be most enjoyed by those who are fans of the way films of the genre were made in their heyday. But it would also be a good choice for anyone who likes crime/mystery stories and who is willing to look at the way such films were made in an earlier era. After watching "The Big Clock", you might want to see more of them.

Taut thriller about a crime magazine editor (Ray Milland) trying to stay one step ahead of being framed for murder by his tyrannical boss (Charles Laughton). Ray Milland is great but it's scenery-chewing Charles Laughton that is the most memorable part of this movie. George Macready plays Laughton's crony and partner-in-crime. Rita Johnson is fantastic as Laughton's mistress. Elsa Lanchester has a small but amusing part that she makes the most of. Harry Morgan appears in an early role as a "problem solver" for Laughton. This was Maureen O'Sullivan's first movie in five years and her first non-Tarzan movie in seven. Director John Farrow was also her husband at the time so I'm sure that had something to do with her returning to the screen.

A tightly paced film with a great script. Fine direction from Farrow. It was remade in 1987 as No Way Out, which isn't a bad movie itself. Thankfully it isn't a direct copy but a reworking of the original story. Both the remake and this original have wonderful (and completely different) endings. This is definitely one you'll want to check out if you're a fan of film noir or thrillers from the '40s.

'The Big Clock' is exactly my kind of film, love crime, love thriller, love films with noir-ish qualities. The cast is an immensely talented one and the roles they're cast in sounded perfect for them. Hard to go wrong with Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, George Macready, Harry Morgan, Maureen O'Sullivan and Elsa Lanchester and 'The Big Clock' is the sort of film that would see all fitting beautifully within it. The story sounded so engrossing too and of course the positive reviews always help.

A critical reception that 'The Big Clock' more than richly deserves. While not one of my favourite films or one of my favourites of the genre, and it falls short of masterpiece status, 'The Big Clock' is an excellent film in many respects. The acting and the atmosphere being two of the biggest pluses, and it delivers hugely on the entertainment value and suspense as well which means that it more than delivers on what is needed to make a film of this type work.

It is a slow starter, well slightly, and not everything rings true in the plot.

Such as with the body, the lead character's involvement with Rita Johnson's character and how quickly a few of the clues are found.

Everything else is truly fabulous. Milland has the right amount of intensity and charm for a role that suits him so well and plays to his strengths, one of his best performances from this period. O'Sullivan is a strong presence as is Johnson, while Lanchester was seldom this hilarious. Likewise with Morgan being seldom this menacing. Best of all is a chillingly neurotic Laughton. Chills also come from the omnipresence of the clock. The characters are well written and some of them eccentric, notably Lanchester's. There is plenty to Milland's to allow us to care for what happens to him.

Furthermore, 'The Big Clock' looks great. Especially the darkly noir-ish lighting and photography that not only suits the atmosphere perfectly it actually enhances it. John Farrow directs more than efficiency with a strong feel for momentum and atmosphere. The script is taut and intelligent, complete with some deliciously acerbic humour that gels with the vast amount of tension like fruity wine and cheese. The story is laden in suspense, is tightly paced and has clever turns. The ending is unexpected and has a lasting effect.

Overall, excellent. 8/10.