The Big Clock (1948)

April 9, 1948, release date

Directed by John Farrow

Screenplay by Jonathan Latimer

Based on the novel The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing

Music by Victor Young

Edited by LeRoy Stone, Eda Warren

Cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp, John Seitz

Ray Milland as George Stroud

Charles Laughton as Earl Janoth

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

Harold Vermilyea as Don Klausmeyer

Dan Tobin as Ray Cordette

Richard Webb as Nat Sperling

Elaine Riley as Lily Gold

Luis Van Rooten as Edwin Orlin, a reporter

Bobby Watson as Morton Spaulding

Lloyd Corrigan as Colonel Jefferson Randolph aka McKinley (radio actor in the bar)

Frank Orth as Burt

Margaret Field as the second secretary

Noel Neill as an elevator operator

Al Ferguson as the guard

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

Produced by Paramount Pictures

The first time I saw The Big Clock several years ago, I wondered if it were really a film noir, probably because of the film’s many humorous touches. Ray Milland’s onscreen presence frequently exudes warmth and joviality, and the wonderful character of Louise Patterson, played by Else Lanchester, provides many humorous touches. Her abstract sketch of the murderer is just one example.

But then I heard that No Way Out, released in 1987 and starring Kevin Costner, is a remake of The Big Clock, and I thought: I need to see both films again. (Another remake is a 1976 French film called Python 357, which I haven’t seen.) No Way Out seems to be in heavy rotation lately on non-major-broadcast stations, but I have never seen it from beginning to end. Still, it seemed much more suspenseful than what I remembered from my first viewing of The Big Clock. How could the two films be based on the same book? I decided to find out, and I started with The Big Clock. (I have to admit that I have not yet read Kenneth Fearing’s book of the same name: another book on my reading list!)

The opening credits in The Big Clock appear over two still shots, one of magazine covers that bleeds into a longer one of a sundial. The sundial, it turns out, is the murder weapon in the story that follows. After the credits finish rolling, the camera pans part of the New York City skyline. Then it seems to track right into the offices of Janoth Publications. I wondered if this was a new camera technique, one probably made easier with new technology after World War II (the film was released in 1948).

The camera now appears to be on the second floor of the building, but it is empty. Then George Stroud, played by Ray Milland, steps off the elevator and checks out his surroundings. Milland’s voice-over explains what he is thinking in this opening sequence. When he realizes that a security guard is heading his way, he hides behind a pillar. The security guard doesn’t see Stroud, so Stroud continues on his way to what he calls “the big clock.” Earl Janoth, head of Janoth Publications, likes clocks because he values, above all else, punctuality and productivity. The big clock is Janoth’s idea: It is a sightseeing feature for tourists who come to visit Janoth Publication, so it makes money and keeps employees punctual. Inside the workings of the big clock, George Stroud says/thinks that, thirty-six hours ago, he was a “decent, respectable, law-abiding citizen.” And the film then cuts to a flashback.

Thirty-six hours earlier: George is busy at the office. He is the senior editor for Crimeways magazine, one of many magazines published by Janoth Publications, and he has just finished producing a successful article that will beat all his competitors to publication. One of the secrets to George’s success is his Crimeways Clue Chart, which he uses to track relevant and irrelevant details about everything and everyone that could be the subject of a magazine feature. He thinks no clue is unimportant, and it’s a strategy that works for him because he often gets stories to press ahead of everyone else.

George’s vacation is due to start the following day, and he and his wife Georgette are overdue for a honeymoon (they already have a young son). His wife and son don’t believe that the whole family will actually go on the vacation that they have planned because George’s work has interfered with his family life in the past.

The film cuts to Steve Hagen, Earl Janoth’s assistant, addressing a business meeting about the need to increase magazine circulation. The Janoth company has recently experienced a 6 percent recession. Janoth enters the meeting room, acting like the ruling despot of his publishing company, so the conflict in George Stroud’s life is made pretty clear from the start. It isn’t long before Janoth uses George’s latest success against him: Research another story that Janoth wants published or George is out of a job.

Pauline York is Earl Janoth’s mistress. Her visit to his office doesn’t go as well as she had planned. She wants more money for singing lessons than Janoth is willing to give. She approaches George Stroud in a bar while George is waiting for his wife and pitches the idea of writing an exposé about Janoth. George isn’t enthusiastic about the idea, but because he just had a disagreement with his wife about their vacation plans, he allows himself to be distracted by Pauline long enough to get drunk and visit several night spots around town. One of their stops is a secondhand shop, where he buys a Louise Patterson original painting, with the artist herself trying to outbid him.

(This blog post about The Big Clock contains some spoilers.)

George and Pauline spend an innocent night on the town, and the only reason that George ends up in Pauline’s apartment is because of the amount of alcohol he consumes. While George is still trying to recuperate from the previous evening’s events in Pauline’s apartment, Janoth shows up for a visit. George is forced to leave by another entrance, and Janoth sees him from a distance without recognizing him. Janoth enters the apartment, and he and Pauline argue. Janoth kills Pauline in a fit of rage with the sundial that she and George had picked up the previous evening in a bar called Burt’s Place.

Janoth goes to Steve Hagen and admits to accidentally killing York. Hagen convinces Janoth not to go to the police. Hagen instead goes to Pauline’s apartment and cleans up the murder scene: He finds Janoth’s hat, resets a broken clock, goes through Pauline York’s purse and takes out the handkerchief that George Stroud had given her to dry herself after spilling a drink on her, and finds the sundial (the murder weapon). He turns the sundial upside down and reads the bottom: “Stolen from Burt’s Place, 988 Third Ave.”

After Janoth tells him that he saw someone outside Pauline’s apartment, Hagen devises a plan to find out the identity of the person and place the blame for Pauline’s murder on him or her. He enlists the aid of George Stroud. Hagen doesn’t want Stroud to know why he is conducting his investigation, but Stroud knows, of course, because he was with Pauline on the night that she was murdered. Once again, Stroud’s success causes him misery, this time with even more dire consequences. He is now forced to use his investigative talents and his Crimeways Clue Chart—to hunt for himself! The remainder of the film follows the investigation and George Stroud’s efforts to stay one step ahead long enough to clear his name.

After a second viewing, I can see why The Big Clock is considered a film noir. It has many elements of noir: murder, betrayal, the threat of physical violence, building tension as George Stroud tries to clear himself before anyone recognizes him as Pauline York’s companion on the last night of her life. The first time I saw the film, I missed all the times that Ray Milland is able to show his character’s anxiety and desperation. The second time, I could really appreciate George Stroud’s predicament. I’m glad I gave the film another chance.