A hotshot crime magazine editor george stroud milland, inadvertently becomes the subject of a murder investigation after spending an evening with his boss charles laughton mistress. It starred kevin costner, sean young and gene hackman as the heavy. Ray milland, charles laughton, maureen osullivan, george macready. His plans go awry when the floozy turns up murdered. Kenneth fearings the big clock is an atypical noir that puts us square inside of the big corporation, in this case janeth enterprises, run by the big man, earl janeth.
Not all film noir takes place in a seedy underworld. John farrow directs this filmnoir, adapted from kenneth fearings novel of the same name, in which a career oriented magazine editor finds himself on the run when he discovers his boss is framing him for murder. Jun 20, 2019 with its absurd crosspurposes and increasingly frantic pace, the big clock resembles a noir film as it would be constructed by preston sturges. The novel has been adapted into two films, the big clock 1948 and no way out 1987. It was noted for its unexpected plot twists and strong performances, especially those by charles laughton and elsa lanchester. The big clock is a 1948 american film noir directed by john farrow and adapted by novelistscreenwriter jonathan latimer from the novel of the same name by kenneth fearing the blackandwhite film is set in new york city and stars ray milland, charles laughton, and maureen osullivan. The interior of the big clock, the films most interesting set, is barely used. George stroud, an editor of crimeways, is a mechanism to this daily grind, often referred to as the big clock.
Earl janoth played by laughton is a tyrannical publishing magnate who murders his. It also features brad dexter, frank faylen, and peggie castle. The film was produced by edward small, with cinematography by franz planer. Larceny 1948 film noir john payne dan duryea shelley winters joan caulfield duration. Ray milland, charles laughton and george macready are the bedrock actors, who all give stellar performances, laughton as the little napolean who rules over a media empire, and milland as. The hero or, if you prefer, since this is film noir, the primary. Battling his personal bacchant demons, as well as the people trying to sober him up, made for a great movie especially when flying bats are. The big clock, bluray, suspense film noir, 7607242581. It was noted for its unexpected plot twists and strong performances. A cry in the night is a 1956 filmnoir, dramatic, and thriller film starring edmond obrien, brian donlevy, natalie wood and raymond burr. Starring ray milland, charles laughton, maureen osullivan and rita johnson. After murdering someone, a magazine tycoon tries to frame an unknown, innocent man for the murder instead, while the innocent man tries to solve the murder himself.
Forestalling a muchneeded holiday from earl janoth charles laughton, his unmannerly manager. A must see documentary for all lovers of film noir. Dana andrews stars as a charismatic grifter who courts and weds a sheltered spinster, alice faye in a warmly wonderful performance, in order to obtain enough money to win his real object of desire, the local floozy linda darnell. So it goes with john farrows the big clock 1948, which sets its dark doings and flashback narrative in a topflight new york corporation that occupies a swank if somberly lit midtown office tower. He speaks of how the film doesnt quite fit in the film noir guidelines. She ends up dead and he is being framed by the actual. Oscarwinning best actor ray milland, stars in the big clock, a smart and stylish film noir thriller about an innocent man wrongfully accused of murder. The thriller the big clock crosses over into light comedy so frequently that it edges away from the mainstream of film noir, despite the acutely noirish maelstrom of crazy coincidence that traps its characters. If the big clock is not widely considered one of the greatest films of the 1940s, this may paradoxically be on account of how successful it was as a commercial product. Detour and the big clock cross noir with absurdity. An impressively crafted noir displaying all the better characteristics of the genre. With ray milland, maureen osullivan, charles laughton, george macready. The murder the key event every narrative thread springs from and leads to divides the big clock into two big chapters, both thematically and tonally.
In this vintage film noir, crimerag publisher earl janoth charles laughton tries to tag his editor george stroud ray milland with the savage murder of the publishers mistress when he glimpses the editor skulking out of her apartment. This public domain film is a film noir involving a female undercover detective who is gathering evidence about some wealthy smugglers. Striking film noir classic stars ray milland as george stroud, a crime magazine editor who has a liaison with pauline, a beautiful woman who turns out to be the mistress of his boss, tyrannical publisher earl. We have a femme fatale, we have a protagonist in a situation way over his head and has to out smart the enemy to get out of danger, we have adultery, murder, a rich and powerful antagonist and a claustrophobic setting that even as a viewer we want to get out of. Told in the backtofront fashion typical of film noir, the big clock opens with george stroud ray milland trapped, his life in danger, his survival measured in the minutebyminute movements of. He spoke last week at the brecht forum on the film and literary noir. Steady film noir production fraught with suspense, twisting its unique plot and characters to a clever and frightening conclusion.
The big clock was included in the library of americas crime novels. John farrows the big clock is an underrated masterpiece of postwar new york 1948 a bit of film noir with some healthy suspence and comedy thrown in. With its absurd crosspurposes and increasingly frantic pace, the big clock resembles a noir film as it would be constructed by preston sturges. The big clock, american film noir, released in 1948, that was a classic of the genre. It presents a fritz langlike vision of destiny conditioned by a malevolent social apparatus, but farrow is not as austere as lang. How gloria grahame became the sultry screen siren of film noir. The big clock, bluray, suspensefilm noir, 7607242581. Almost certainly the finest french revolutionset film noir, anthony manns pulphistorical thriller follows a secret agent cummings as he races through paris in an attempt to bring down sadistic dictatorinthemaking robespierre basehart. The big clock trailer 1948 the big clock trailer 1948 skip navigation sign in. The big clock is one of the novels chosen by author kevin johnson to represent the literary origins of film noir in his 2007 book, the dark page. John seitzs blackandwhite cinematography is crisp as always. Jun 18, 2010 the big clock trailer 1948 the big clock trailer 1948 skip navigation sign in. Ray milland proves a wonderful lead in this thriller as he is the antithesis of a hardboiled noir hero, getting caught up in a murder plot where he is simultaneously being chased and looking for the real culprit. The screenplay is by robert smith, based on a short story by george zuckerman.