The Big Clock

In classic noir style, the movie starts with a nighttime panoramic shot of New York City, passing tall and short buildings, some emitting smoke and others illuminated by electricity. We then move into the halls of the Janoth Publishing Building as piano and orchestral music play in the background. A man, George Stroud, wanders through the building’s corridors, hiding from others, looking a little disheveled. He thinks, “Whew, that was close. What happens if I get inside the clock and the watchman is there? Think fast, George! That’s a break, he’s off duty.” Looking down at the lobby, he murmurs again, “More guards. The lobby’s sewn up like a sack … how did I get into this rat race anyway? I’m no criminal. Crossing that lobby on my way to work, minding my own business, looking forward to my first vacation in years. Thirty-six hours ago, I was a decent, respectable, law-abiding citizen with a wife and a kid and a big job 36 hours ago!”

A day and a half ago, the day began as a guide explained the big clock, a series of clocks that can tell any time in the world and remains the centerpiece of the Janoth Publishing Building. George Stroud buys today’s newspaper and ventures into the elevator with a crowd of people, entering and exiting, as most people’s noses are buried in various newspapers. George enters his office and immediately answers the phone. One of his reporters has broken the story, and George is delighted. George is needed at a Janoth meeting, but he’s too busy now setting up his story. He finally calls his wife, Georgette (Maureen Sullivan), who tells him about problems with his son. But with a brief chat, he has the son agreeing to eat his oatmeal.

Steve Hagen (George Macready) is going on about increasing newspaper circulation, that the figures for last quarter “have fallen off badly … Mr. Janoth is upset, he’s going to want to hear ideas.” Then, a direct elevator to the boardroom opens, and out steps, the grandiose Mr. Janoth (Charles Laughton), followed by Bill Womack (Harry Morgan), his muscle. Janoth, stoic and barking out numbers, asks where George is and makes it clear that the meeting will not wait for him. Janoth says we must create trends before they are trends. Drinking a glass of beer, he announces the budget. He drones on about how all this money is a waste unless we can add 100,000 new subscribers. Janoth is the type of man who walks as though he were balancing plates on his head.

One staff member addresses the problem, clearly unable to help, as George and his colleague wander into the meeting. Unimpressed, Janoth cuts him off. “The publishing business is to sell magazines, not to pay people to read them,” Janoth dryly says. Another staff member stands up as the boss gives him one minute (checking his watch) to share his ideas. When he makes his suggestion, Janoth immediately uses the intercom to speak to people, saying, “I’m listening,” while he rechecks his watch. Finally, the boss begins to listen to George. “His story will sell an extra 100,000 next week,” but the problem has been that this Fleming fellow cannot be found, yet George’s team has just located him. Then George explains how they would sell this story, and Janoth excitedly rises. Janoth goes to him and pats him on the back in front of everyone, saying, “Young man, you stumbled on something, perhaps not exactly what I was looking for, but no less admirable.”

George is soon called into Hagen’s office and told that this is his fourth great story this year. Hagen is so impressed that he wants George to take the lead personally on this latest story, which would mean forfeiting his often delayed honeymoon. This causes George to get animated and upset. “Oh, no, oh, no, you can’t do this, it’s my honeymoon!!!” George raves about how, over the years, Janoth has constantly disrupted his vacation, and he won’t let him do it this time. “My wife still hasn’t had a honeymoon !” George won’t budge.

Janoth is listening to the entire conversation in Hagen’s office via intercom. He tells a woman, Pauline York (Rita ), who is already listening in, to turn the intercom off. “How did you get past the guards?” Janoth asks. “You’re not the only Superman around here,” Pauline smiles. Janos quietly proclaims, “Don’t expect me to approve of you being here.”

Pauline retorts, “Not even on business. I have singing lessons.” To which he says the check arrived today, but Pauline wants more. Janoth has her escorted from the office. He says he’ll see her tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night arrives, and Pauline enters a crowded, swanky restaurant/bar and finds her party, George Stroud.” You always drink Stingers, Mr. Stroud?” She seems to know him (she says because of crystal balls, astrology, and horoscopes, jokingly), but he does not know her. “A woman of mystery is coming into your life, Pauline predicts, but George smiles and asks, “Does she know that I’m married?” Pauline admits to being in Janoth’s office, saying, “They’re old friends.” Pauline says they have a great deal in common, but Georgette arrives, and Pauline dismisses herself. George commences to have dinner with his wife.

The next day is a busy one at work. However, Mr. Janoth arrives to have a business chat with George, initially shaking hands. George shows the boss a chalkboard detailing the Fleming story, explaining the narrative to him. Janoth sits and declares, “George, you’re an intelligent man, and you’ve done a fine job of work. Another thing I’ve liked about you, George, is that you’re modest. That’s why we have always worked so well together.” Then Janoth lets slip that the story will be published next month, thus again delaying his honeymoon. As a token of his appreciation, he offers George an all-expense-paid vacation after the story is published. This, of course, angers the young man. Janoth gives him six minutes to change his mind and leaves the office; just then, George gets a phone call from the mystery woman at the restaurant.

He tells her he has just been fired, and Janoth has threatened to blacklist him in the industry. When Pauline asks what he’s going to do about it, he says to get a stiff drink. Pauline says she’ll join him. She said he blacklisted me, too, so it would be to their mutual benefit to meet at the bar to discuss the situation. Pauline inquires about the confidential file, which contains a biography on Earl Janoth that he’d be willing to purchase if it were to be released to the public. But George says he doesn’t play those games. Then he realizes that it is 7:30 and that he missed picking up his wife to catch her train. Dejected, he continues to drink with Pauline.

Walking around drunk, George and Pauline sing and look at storefronts in the dark of the night, buy a painting for 30 dollars, drink in bars, and search for green clocks. George finally wakes up in Pauline’s apartment, obviously with a hangover. Pauline looks out the window and sees Janoth on his way up as she quickly tries to sober George up to make him presentable. He quickly ducks away, but Janoth thinks he sees him escape.

Janoth rings the bell of Pauline’s apartment, and she allows him entrance. She switches the radio on, and Earl tells her to turn it off. But Pauline likes music and keeps it on. Earl seems to remember every little discretion she made and holds each one against her. And then Pauline accuses him of having multiple affairs as well. She begins to denigrate Janoth, telling how people laugh behind his back, calling him pathetic and disgusting. Then he grabs a sundial off the shelf and, in a rage, impales her with it.

Later, Earl is drinking with Steve Hagen and admits, “I just killed someone. I had no right to come here, but I had no place to go. She was one of the most generous women who ever lived.” Then Hagen asks why he killed her. Janoth says, “I don’t know, Steve. I don’t know.” Hagen offers to clean up the mess and figure out a way for him to escape prosecution.

George finally goes to the honeymoon cottage to get Georgette out of bed; she is rather upset that he missed picking her up for the train. “It was unforgivable,” Georgette declares. George tells her things are different now; he quit. Georgette smiles in delight and says, “I can’t believe it.” Georgette then admits Pauline made her feel threatened, but George says Georgette is the only woman in his life. But then the phone rings, and when he slams the receiver, it rings once more, so George feels he must answer it. On the other end are Hagen and Janoth, “with the story of the year.” Janoth gets on the phone and admits he acted badly yesterday, providing some details about the new story, stating they’re looking for a Jefferson Randolph. “George, I’m not going to rest until I expose this scoundrel if I have to assign every man in my organization,” Earl says. George agrees to catch the very next flight, but Georgette declares, “George if you leave now, I’ll never speak to you again!” George says he has to, that he can save a man’s life, but Georgette asks, “But what about ours?” She walks away in disgust.

The new day arrives. Hagen and Janoth walk through the lobby and enter Janoth’s private elevator, briefly speaking about the details of cleaning up the murder and hatching their new scheme involving George Stroud. First, Hagen talks to the newly arrived Stroud before Janoth does. George enters, expressing concern about his wife. Hagen tells him, “She’ll get over it … Jefferson Randolph, I think it’s an alias because of the business he did.” He’s spending money on a blonde, Pauline. Hagen hands George proof that they have been together socially. Hagen says George has “a free hand” to investigate. But George has one question. “Where’s all this information come from?” Hagen, slightly squirming, says, “Confidential sources.” George asks why not bring in the authorities? Hagen says, “This is an exclusive between you and me.” And George adds, “And Janoth!”

Entering his office, George calls Pauline's apartment, where she is seen lying dead on the floor. Meanwhile, Georgette is staring at her suitcase, slowly packing. The reporters investigating the blonde girl traced her to a mystery man she had been with at Berke’s bar the previous night; the man was oddly holding a painting under his arm. As the reporters share their findings, George’s face shows that he realizes that he’s the man they’re after. Hagen enters and asks to speak with George. Referring to the man holding a painting, Hagen says he probably just bought it and that he should check every nearby art studio. The reporters think the man with the artwork is Jefferson Randolph. George looks more concerned as a witness mentions the man’s felt hat was very noticeable last night, which is now lying beside George in the office. When he is alone, he buries the hat in the nearest trash can. Another reporter mentions that the man bought the painting last night for $ 30 at a specific shop. Then, when he is given the chance, George moves the hat from the trash to his hidden bar. But the always-silent Womack appears at his door, and we are unaware of what he’s seen.

At the same time, the woman, Mrs. Patterson (Elsa Lanchester), who bid against George for the painting in the shop the previous night, identifies the blonde as Pauline York, who occasionally models for Janoth’s magazine. The reporter, McKinley (Lloyd Corrigan), states that he's going over to Pauline’s apartment, but George beats him to it, ringing the unanswered doorbell. He hears a loud radio playing. He physically knocks and buzzes the bell, but no one answers. So he goes to a back door, which is unlocked, and enters the apartment, finding Pauline dead. He roots around until the doorbell sounds, and George goes out the back door, confronting McKinley, telling him he’s just met Pauline, and the man is Jefferson Randolph.

George later meets with Janoth and Hagen and informs them that Pauline York is dead, but the two men seem hardly surprised or too concerned. Janoth says the real reason was to catch Randolph themselves. But George asks again where all this information on Randolph comes from, and who the murderer could be. Was it Randolph? Janoth receives a phone call stating that Randolph has just entered the building, so all exits should be closed, as well as the building itself. The next scene shows the speakers directing people as they call out information. The men, witnesses to seeing George last evening, call him and together describe him to Janoth’s people. According to these witnesses, he has elevated heels, a cauliflower ear, a brown toupee, and a glass eye. In other words, their variability is called into question. Mrs. Patterson breezes into the office and asks if she will receive all the money offered if she can identify the man who purchased the painting. She breaks it down to $150 and changes, but when they are alone, George offers her $500 not to identify him as the mystery man. George tries to escape from the building, but all exits are blocked and protected.

Georgette enters the office, and she notes that the missing masterpiece filling newspapers is actually the painting in her home, but George quickly whisks her away into a private office. “Oh, darling, if you only knew what I’ve been through today … darling, it’s a long story.” Georgette seems to be unmoved by his troubles and remains stoic.” So help me, the first I knew she was dead was this afternoon.” George tells his wife he didn’t go to the police because “Janoth and Hagen have dozens of alibis, but I only have myself.” George is told by a security man, “ That this man is a maniac. We just got orders to shoot to kill!” People from the bar George and Pauline attended while drunk gasp and identify Stroud as the man they saw last night when he showed up. From this point, George is on the run in a confined building. He finds his wife and escorts her away to Hagen’s office, where Georgette finds George’s liquor-stained hanky, which was in Pauline’s purse but was no longer there when George found her dead. George finally gets the idea that Hagen might be involved in the murder. Janoth offers $5,000 to Womack to execute Stroud, but he raises three fingers, signaling he’ll do it for $3,000.

As the opening scene is replayed, now without internal dialogue, George hides among the shadows, staying entirely out of view, and enters the large lock mechanism. George phones in to see if a cabbie, Kowalski, has logged his fares from the previous night. He did, and this can be proof that Hagen visited Pauline at the time of her murder. George accidentally pushes a lever, turning off all the clocks in the building. He switches back the level as fast as he can, but Janoth wants the clock’s interior checked, just in case. Womack, armed, investigates while George hides. But George catches Womack off guard and pushes him in the face, causing him to plunge down the stairs. George flees, and Womack awakens, taking the elevator up to George’s office. However, George cleverly cuts the cables, causing the elevator to become stranded a floor or two below him, trapping Womack inside.

George rushes into Hagen’s office, meeting with Georgette and his friend Mac, who falsely portrays a police inspector. First, George calls Hagen and Janoth, telling them he’s in Hagen’s office, having discovered the culprit. Janoth then goes to his desk and fetches a pistol. When Janoth and Hagen enter the office to see George and his wife, George introduces the third party as Inspector Reagan of the homicide detail. George asks Reagan to step outside for a moment. He then accuses Hagen of being the murderer. George claims the motive was blackmail, as checks from his account were being sent to Pauline. He then produces the stained handkerchief as proof that Hagen was at her apartment, followed by the taxi log of the cab driver who brought him there. Janoth sits in a chair, covering his face with his fingers. Hagen tells George his case won’t hold up. Then, the Inspector is called back in. He says he saw Hagen with the murder weapon, the sundial. Then Janoth assures Hagen that he’ll put the full resources of the magazine at his disposal to defend him, so that he won’t be alone in the fight. Then Hagen, upset, says to Janoth, “You thought I’d do anything for you.” Then he walks up to George and says Janoth murdered the girl, and he’ll say so in court. Then, a sudden shot rings out from Janoth’s gun, Hagen falling dead on the floor.

Janoth rushes out of Hagen’s office and runs to his own, about to enter his private elevator, when George shouts out, “No,” as Janoth takes a shot at him. The elevator lies at the bottom of the shaft, unseen and unknown by Janoth, and Janoth backs inside and tumbles multiple floors downward to his death. George calls the police as the movie ends on a comic note, as Mrs. Patterson chases McKinley.

Unlike many film noirs, this is a primary Paramount production, and its budget is evident. The film features a vast cast, including some major stars, such as Ray Milland and Charles Laughton, among others. The set design is futuristic and expansive, and director John Farrow focuses on clocks and time, almost as if he has a fixation.

The centerpiece, a large clock, represents Earl Janoth’s power and prestige and is a stand-out feature of his publishing building. But we also have the clock in Pauline’s apartment, which is turned back after the murder to protect Janoth further. We have the sundial, an older timepiece, which is believed to be the murder weapon. We have George’s bar-hopping obsession with finding a green clock. We have forgotten train schedules, the often delayed honeymoon, and newspaper deadlines, all involving time. The narrative of the story is divided into 36 hours, marked by calendar dates that are visually displayed. We have six-minute ultimatums, and cab logs of passengers at specific times. And we have George pulling a lever, stopping time in offices that feature multiple clocks.

John Farrow keeps the action well-timed and constantly moving. We have the publishing office scenes, including the Pauline York scenes in the office, at her apartment, and various bars, as well as bar-hopping and restaurant scenes, art shop scenes, and honeymoon cottage scenes. And John Farrow manages to smooth over these various sequences and make their parts cohesively add up to the whole.

The Big Clock is both entertaining and riveting at the same time. It features comic relief, primarily added by Charles Laughton’s wife, Elsa Lanchester, and it never becomes intrusive. It is not among the highest-rated noirs, but it is a solidly practical feature to watch multiple times and enjoy.

PAULINE YORK (RITA JOHNSON), GEORGE STROUD (RAY MILLAND), AND GEORGETTE STROUD (MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN)

RAY MILLAND AND CHARLES LAUGHTON