★ 9 / 10
How did I get into this rat race
John Chard
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…
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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★ 10 / 10
A perfect noir with some production code produced confusion
AlsExGal
This film has not one extra line of dialogue, not one wasted scene. It is about a magazine ("Crimeways") employee, George Stroud (Ray Milland), who has been…
This film has not one extra line of dialogue, not one wasted scene. It is about a magazine ("Crimeways") employee, George Stroud (Ray Milland), who has been working for Earl Janoth who owns the magazine (Charles Laughton) for seven years without enough time off to take his wife on a honeymoon. He and his young son are practically strangers. And so he is on the eve of taking a long overdue vacation when Janoth demands he postpone his vacation again to follow up on a lead in person. He refuses and is fired. Stroud doesn't care. You see, Stroud's gift is finding missing people before anybody else does. It is what got him the tony job in the first place.
Stroud manages to miss the train his wife and son are on, figures his marriage is over, and spends the evening drunk and in the company of Janoth's mistress, Pauline. He wakes up on her couch and leaves, but has to dodge Janoth on the way out. Stroud catches up and reconciles with his wife. But then a call from Janoth again. It seems he is unfired and Janoth wants him to track down a person who is an accused embezzler, but Janoth gives enough details that George realizes the person he would be looking for is himself. He also does not buy the embezzler story and figures Janoth is looking for the person Janoth thinks that Pauline is seeing behind his back. Stroud goes back to New York, to the chagrin of his wife, thinking he can derail the story long enough to come up with a plausible explanation.
It's not long before Stroud realizes that this is a much bigger matter than Janoth looking for the other man, and things get very complex. I'll just say watch and find out. Whatever you do, don't go see this at a film festival or any place where you cannot control the stopping and starting of the film. Miss any part of it, or let your mind wander, and you'll likely get lost. Hitchcock's work looks like a B programmer compared to the intricacy of this film.
There are likely going to be some questions as to motivation while you watch this film. Why did Character X just do that??? The reason for the plot holes is this film was taken from written material in which Stroud really is having an affair with Janoth's mistress, and Janoth himself is bisexual. The production code and director John Farrow cut those parts but didn't really add any sufficient substitute explanations.
The most annoying thing about the film? Maureen O'Sullivan's character, George's wife. She is thrilled at the idea of them being poor again, she says, but she sure dresses to the nines, has a spacious apartment and a maid. Roll the film "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and let her see what real poverty can do to a person when they are in a prolonged marriage to someone with no ambition and no prospects, only dreams. But then George's wife's name is Georgette(??) so maybe we are not supposed to take her seriously.
Extra kudos to Elsa Lanchester as a much married maternal mercenary maven artist who steals the show whenever she is onscreen.
Highly recommended in spite of the complexity and definitely worth your time.
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