BIG CLOCK, THE

(April 1948, U.S.)

Did you ever see 1987's NO WAY OUT with Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman? Did you think it was an original story? Sorry to burst your bubble, but it was a remake of THE BIG CLOCK. The original film is closer to the novel. The remake, on the other hand, updated the events to the United States Department of Defense in Washington D.C. during the Cold War period of the 1980's. But we're not here to talk about that story right now.

The era of the 1940's was prime for film noir thrillers. Some of these stories could get a little redundant after of these movies. The plot of THE BIG CLOCK seems simple enough is which the editor-in-chief of a popular crime magazine, George Stroud (played by Ray Milland) is charged by his tyrannical publishing boss, Earl Janoth (played by Charles Laughton) with the assignment of finding an accused murderer of a young woman. The twist is that we already know that Janoth is the murderer and Stround was a witness to Janoth leaving the scene of the crime, though Janoth doesn't know that. So Stroud is racing the clock (the big one) as he outwardly appears to diligently lead Janoth's investigation and, at the same time, tries to prevent that investigation from uncovering the fact that it is he who is the very target of it. Meanwhile, he must also secretly carry out his own investigation to gather the evidence necessary to prove who the real murderer is.

Confused yet? Well, look at it this way, sometimes a little confusion helps to make a story more original. That's when you have to watch the film more than once. Trust me.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Don Klausmeyer: "I'm Don Klausmeyer, from Artways magazine."
Louise Patterson: "Yes. Oh, yes. Didn't you review my show in '41?"
Don: "I think I did."
Louise: "Oh, come in, Mr. Klausmann."
Don: "KlausMEYER."
Louise: "I've been planning to kill you for years."