The Big Clock (film)

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The Big Clock

Theatrical release poster

Directed by John Farrow

Produced by John Farrow

Richard Maibaum

Screenplay by Jonathan Latimer

Based on The Big Clock

by Kenneth Fearing

Starring Ray Milland

Charles Laughton

Music by Victor Young

 Cinematography Daniel L. Fapp
John Seitz

Edited by LeRoy Stone

Eda Warren (sup.)

Production Paramount Pictures

company

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

Release date  April 9, 1948 (United States)

Running time 95 minutes

Country United States

Language English

Box office $2 million (US rentals)[1]

The Big Clock is a 1948 film noir directed by John Farrow and adapted by renowned novelist-
screenwriter Jonathan Latimer from the novel of the same name by Kenneth Fearing.
The black-and-white film is set in New York City and stars Ray Milland, Charles Laughton,
and Maureen O'Sullivan. Elsa Lanchester and Harry Morgan, in an early film role, also appear. Noel
Neill has an uncredited part as an elevator operator very early in the film.[2]

Contents
[hide]

 1Plot
 2Cast
 3Production
 4Reception
 5Remake
 6References
 7External links
o 7.1Streaming audio

Plot[edit]
The film opens with George Stroud (Ray Milland), editor-in-chief of Crimeways magazine, hiding
from building security inside the "big clock". The clock is the largest and most sophisticated clock
ever built; it dominates the lobby of the Janoth Publications building in New York City, where he
works.
The film flashes back to thirty-six hours earlier. Stroud is eager to go on a long-postponed vacation
in Wheeling, West Virginia, with his wife Georgette (Maureen O'Sullivan) and son. His tyrannical
boss, Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton) wants him to stay and follow up on a missing persons story
Stroud has just cracked, but Stroud refuses and Janoth fires him. Stroud goes to a bar to drink and
is distracted by the attentions of Janoth's glamorous mistress, Pauline York (Rita Johnson), who
proposes a blackmail plan against Janoth. When Stroud loses track of time and misses their
scheduled train, Georgette angrily leaves for Wheeling without him. Stroud spends the evening
drinking and going out on the town with York at various locations, buying a painting and a sundial.
Stroud and York go to York's apartment, but she sees Janoth arriving, and Stroud leaves. Janoth
sees someone leaving but does not recognize Stroud in the dark. Janoth assumes York is cheating
on him, leading to a quarrel which ends with him striking York with the sundial and killing her. Janoth
goes to his assistant, Hagen (George Macready), and tells him what happened, intending on going
to the police and confessing. But Hagen talks him out of it and convinces him that they can frame the
man Janoth saw leaving York's apartment for the crime. Janoth decides to use the resources
of Crimeways to find the man instead of calling the police.
Stroud has since caught up with his wife and son in West Virginia and tells her that he has been fired
(but leaves out his adventures with York). Janoth calls to re-hire him, to lead the effort to find the
mystery man (leaving out any mention of York). He mentions enough details for Stroud to know that
the mystery man is himself. He reluctantly agrees to return to his job and lead the manhunt, to
Georgette's disappointment.
During the manhunt, Stroud has to appear to lead the investigation diligently, and at the same time,
prevent the investigation from identifying him as its target. Meanwhile, he must also secretly carry
out his own investigation to prove Janoth's guilt.
Eventually York is identified by the Crimeways team and witnesses are found that saw her out on the
town with the mystery man. These witnesses are brought to the Janoth Building.
One is eccentric artist Louise Patterson (Elsa Lanchester), who did the painting that was purchased
by Stroud. Asked to paint a portrait of the mystery man, she produces a modernist abstract of blobs
and swirls.
Stroud tries to avoid the witnesses, but one of them sees and recognizes him as the mystery man.
Stroud slips away before the witness points him out to the investigators, but now the investigators
know that the mystery man is in the building, though not who he is. All exits from the building are
sealed, and everyone must leave by the main door, with the witnesses watching for the mystery
man. Building security men sweep the building to flush out the wanted man.
Stroud evades the dragnet by various maneuvers, finally hiding in the clock (ending the flashback
segment of the film).
In the climax of the film, Stroud confronts Janoth and Hagen. He presents evidence which appears
to point to Hagen as the killer. Hagen implores Janoth to clear him, but Janoth tells him only that he
will provide him the best possible legal defense. Enraged, Hagen turns on Janoth and reveals that
Janoth killed York and he helped cover it up. Janoth shoots Hagen and flees. Janoth tries to escape
in an elevator, but the elevator car is stuck floors below (jammed there by Stroud earlier while
evading the security men); Janoth falls down the elevator shaft to his death.

Cast[edit]
 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
 Henry 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
 Frank Orth as Burt
 Margaret Field as Second Secretary
 Noel Neill as an elevator operator
Morgan's screen name later would become "Henry 'Harry' Morgan" and eventually Harry Morgan, to
avoid confusion with the popular humorist of the same name.

Production[edit]
Paramount bought the rights to the novel before publication. (Fearing's earlier novel The
Hospital had been a best seller.[3]) The purchase price was a reported $45,000.[4]
Jonathan Latimer was assigned to write the script and Ray Milland to star. Leslie Fenton was
announced as director but he was held up on Saigon so John Farrow took over. Filming began
February 17, 1947.[5] Charles Laughton was cast as the villain.[6]
This was Maureen O'Sullivan's first film in five years, since Tarzan's New York Adventure, after
which she had concentrated on raising her family. She did it as a favor for her husband,
director John Farrow.[7]

Reception[edit]
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."[8]
In 1998 film writer David N. Meyer wrote, "More screwball comedy than noir, The Big Clock's big
moments derive from snappy dialogue and over-the-top humor."[9]Dennis Schwartz wrote in 2004
that "John Farrow directs this thrilling psychological film noir with style, though it's barely a work of
noir in the full sense of that genre."[10]
In 2001, the American Film Institute nominated this film for AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills.[11]

Remake[edit]
The story was remade in 1987 as No Way Out with Kevin Costner. The 1948 film is closer to the
novel. The 1987 remake, on the other hand, updated the events to the United States Department of
Defense in Washington, D.C. during the Cold War.

References
 No Way Out is a 1987 American political thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Kevin
Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young. Will Patton, Howard Duff, George Dzundza, Jason
Bernard, Fred Thompson, and Imanappear in supporting roles.
The film is a remake of The Big Clock (1948). Both films are based on Kenneth Fearing's 1946
novel The Big Clock. Filming locations included Baltimore, Annapolis, Arlington, Washington, D.C.,
and Auckland, New Zealand. The film features original music by Academy Award-winning
composer Maurice Jarre.

Contents
[hide]

 1Plot
 2Cast
 3Release
o 3.1Box office
o 3.2Critical reception
 4References
 5External links

Plot[edit]
U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell is interrogated by two men about how he first
met Secretary of DefenseDavid Brice. Farrell describes being invited to an inaugural ball by his
college buddy Scott Pritchard, who intends to introduce him to Brice. Pritchard hopes that Brice will
transfer Farrell to the Pentagon. On meeting Farrell, Brice is unimpressed and virtually ignores him.
Moments later, Farrell begins flirting with another guest, Susan Atwell. The two have sex in her
limousine and begin a secret relationship, even though she admits to also being involved with a
married man. Farrell returns to sea and rescues a crewman from being washed overboard during a
storm. Brice reads a newspaper story about the rescue and orders Farrell transferred to his
intelligence staff.
After Susan and Farrell return from a romantic weekend, her married lover – Brice – arrives at her
door. After urging a hurt and jealous Farrell to leave through the back door, Susan assures him that
she will leave Brice. Brice sees a man leaving Susan's house but cannot see that it was Farrell. After
Susan lets him in, an enraged Brice demands to know the name of her other lover, but Susan
refuses and orders him to leave. Brice resists, and ultimately pushes Susan to her death over an
upstairs railing. After calling Pritchard, Brice is ready to turn himself in since he had been seen by
Susan's other lover. However, Pritchard suggests that if the other man was made out to be a
suspected KGB sleeper agent code-named "Yuri", then the other man's elimination could be made a
matter of national security. Pritchard cleans Susan's house of all evidence that Brice was there, and
discovers a negative of a photograph Susan had taken of Farrell earlier. The negative shows a very
poor, unidentifiable image of a man.
Unaware that Farrell was in a relationship with Susan, Brice orders him to find and arrest "Yuri" and
places him in the position of investigating himself. Farrell is told that the city police have not been
informed, and that CID officers, commanded by Major Donovan, have been assigned to conduct the
investigation. Meanwhile, to protect his concocted story, Pritchard sends two former CIA assassins
to eliminate everyone who knew of Brice's affair with Susan, beginning with her girlfriends. Attempts
to enhance the photo negative begin to bear fruit due to computer expert Sam Hesselman.
Meanwhile, Farrell sets out to conclusively link Brice to Susan by searching computer files for
evidence that Brice gave her a government-registered gift from the Moroccan foreign minister.
Needing more time, Farrell convinces Hesselman to delay the work on the photograph. CID officers
bring two witnesses to Donovan who saw "Yuri" with Susan during their weekend. They cross paths
with Farrell in the Pentagon and recognize him. Farrell escapes, but the CID begins a search of the
Pentagon, knowing that "Yuri" is somewhere in the building. Farrell eludes the search and tells
Hesselman that Brice had slept with and killed Susan. Hesselman helps him find the Moroccan gift
registered in the State Department database and initiates a print-out so that Farrell will have physical
evidence implicating Brice. Thinking that Farrell is delusional, Hesselman tells Pritchard about
Farrell's relationship with Susan and his belief that Brice murdered her. Pritchard thanks Hesselman
and then executes him.
Still trying to avoid the CID search, Farrell returns to Hesselman's office and seizes the registry
printout. He confronts Brice with this evidence and threatens to go to the police if the search for him
is not called off. After Donovan reports that Hesselman has been murdered by "Yuri", Pritchard tells
Brice that Farrell was Susan's other lover and adds that if the man in the photo is "Yuri" then Farrell
is "Yuri". Knowing that Farrell has the printout, Brice improvises a different story: Pritchard, who
is homosexual, killed Susan because he was jealous of Brice's relationship with her. A devastated
Pritchard commits suicide and is apparently revealed to be "Yuri", concluding the search. Farrell
quietly sends the printout to the Director of the CIA, an enemy of Brice. As Farrell leaves the
Pentagon, the image enhancement of the photograph positively identifies him as Susan's other
lover.
Farrell is picked up by several men while sitting despondently at Susan's grave. The flashback ends,
and it is revealed that Farrell actually is the storied and long-sought "Yuri", the KGB's mole in the
Department of Defense. Aware of Brice's affair, the Kremlin had ordered Farrell to seduce his
mistress and gather intelligence from her. Implying that he should have blackmailed Brice instead of
exposing him, Farrell's interrogators angrily berate him, saying the situation was "poorly handled".
Farrell's handler arrives, tells "Yuri" that America is no longer safe for him, and that it is time for him
to return to the Soviet Union. Revealing that he genuinely loved Susan, Farrell refuses and tells his
handlers that he is finished being a KGB mole. After he leaves the safe house, his handler snaps,
"He'll return. Where else does he have to go?"

Cast[edit]
 Kevin Costner as Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell, U.S. Navy
 Gene Hackman as Secretary of Defense David Brice
 Will Patton as Scott Pritchard
 Sean Young as Susan Atwell
 George Dzundza as Sam Hesselman
 Howard Duff as Senator Duvall
 Jason Bernard as Major Donovan, CID
 Fred Dalton Thompson as CIA Director Marshall
 Iman as Nina Beka
 Michael Shillo as Schiller

Release[edit]
Box office[edit]
The film debuted at number 2 at the box office after Stakeout.[1] The film's budget was an estimated
$15 million; its total U.S. gross was over $35 million.[2]
Critical reception[edit]
The film was very well received by critics and as of December 4, 2015, holds a 91% "Fresh" rating
on Rotten Tomatoes based on 40 reviews.[3]
Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it "truly labyrinthine and ingenious."[4] Richard
Schickel of Time wrote, "Viewers who arrive at the movie five minutes late and leave five minutes
early will avoid the setup and payoff for the preposterous twist that spoils this lively, intelligent
remake of 1948's The Big Clock."[5] Desson Thomson of The Washington Post wrote, "The film
makes such good use of Washington and builds suspense so well that it transcends a plot bordering
on ridiculous."[6]