The Big Clock (1948)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.8/10   

Director:

John Farrow

Escritores:

Kenneth Fearing (novel)
Jonathan Latimer (screenplay)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

9 abril 1948 (USA)

Género:

Crimen | Drama | Cine Negro | Misterio | Suspenso

Frase comercial:

The strangest and most savage manhunt in history!

Plot:

A career oriented magazine editor finds himself on the run when he discovers his boss is framing him for murder.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Magazine | Editor | Tycoon | Amateur Detective

Premios:

1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

The Problem of Publishers

Reparto

Ray Milland	...	George Stroud
Charles Laughton	...	Earl Janoth
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Georgette Stroud
George Macready	...	Steve Hagen
Rita Johnson	...	Pauline York
Elsa Lanchester	...	Louise Patterson
Harold Vermilyea	...	Don Klausmeyer
Dan Tobin	...	Ray Cordette
Harry Morgan	...	Bill Womack
Richard Webb	...	Nat Sperling
Elaine Riley	...	Lily Gold
Luis Van Rooten	...	Edwin Orlin
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Colonel Jefferson Randolph aka McKinley
Frank Orth	...	Burt
Margaret Field	...	Second Secretary

También conocida como:

El reloj asesino (Spain) [es]

Duración:

95 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Negro y Blanco

Relación de Aspecto:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Clasificación:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #12438)

Compañía:

Paramount Pictures

Trivialidades:

A 'fin' is $5 in American slang.

Citas:

George Stroud: White clocks, yellow clocks, brown clocks, blue clocks. Oh, Miss York, where are the green clocks of yesteryear?

Conexiones de Película:

Remade as No Way Out (1987)

Banda de Sonido:

I'm in the Mood for Love

The Problem of Publishers

For some reason (despite a tendency to join forces to protect the first amendment's freedom of speech), movies tend to make publishers look venal and awful. Even that most sympathetic of publishers, Charles Foster Kane, is a megalomaniac (albeit one robbed of a happy childhood). Look at the news publishers in "Five Star Final" or even "Unholy Partners"...anything for a story,for circulation, no matter who gets hurt by the publicity. Look at Walter Burns in all the versions of "The Front Page". Look at Sydney Kidd (Henry Daniell) in "The Philadelphia Story". In this film the publisher is a trifle closer to Charles Foster Kane. Earl Janoth does not own and run a newspaper or a magazine, but a whole empire of different magazines with names like "NewsWays" and "CrimeWays". He even centers it in one single building in New York City. And he has no doubt about his prominence. When his right hand man (George Macready) suggests he was not recognized by a witness, Janoth moans (a trifle loud for affect), "Everybody knows me." This film is a nice combination of film noir and study of a publishing empire. Kenneth Fearing had worked in advertising in a magazine, and had an idea of how they actually ran. His novel (which was recently published in the two volume edition on noir novels in the "Library of America" series of books) became a best seller and classic of that field of writing. The movie (with some changes) is a classic too. The issue of this film is can the hero (Ray Milland) manage to sabotage the investigation he is ordered by Janoth (Charles Laughton) to conduct, without Laughton or his ally Macready realizing he is the man they are seeking. It is done with style and comic timing (thanks to Elsa Lanchester, Philip Van Zandt, and several other character actors). Even Laughton and Macready are used for humor, although their characters are menacing. Macready has just set up the orders for Milland's investigation, and Milland (confused but trying to buy time), says "Right." Macready looks at him and says, "What do you mean "Right"?" And look at Laughton's silent reaction to Lanchester's portrait of the sort for witness Milland has to find.

This is one film noir that gets better with every new viewing. Watch it by all means.