The Big Clock

The Big Clock is a 1948 film noir thriller set in New York City based on the novel by Kenneth Fearing. The black-and-white film was directed by John Farrow and starred Ray Milland. Real-life married couple Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton appear in the film, as does Harry Morgan in an early film role as the film's hired thug. The movie is told in flashback. When the movie begins, Stroud (Milland) is shown hiding from the police behind the "big clock" - the largest and most sophisticated clock ever built - which is in the lobby of his publishing company.

Critical reaction

Reviews of the film in 1948 as well as today remain mostly positive. Bruce Eder writing in the All Movie Guide writes 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."

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The movie was one of 400 films on the nominee list for the American Film Institute's "100 Years 100 Thrills" list of the greatest thrillers in American film history. The story was remade in 1987 as No Way Out with Kevin Costner. The 1948 version is more similar to the novel.

Related Topics:
American Film Institute - Remade - 1987 - No Way Out - Kevin Costner

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