The Big Clock

A peppy noir about workplace burnout, 70 years before those words held any real meaning. Milland’s plight - having to investigate his own frameup, knowing his boss is the murderer - has the same energy as the boss making you work on the weekend because he forgot the shareholders’ conference was Monday. Milland’s literally stuck in the office fighting for his marriage and his life while his supervisor eggs the coworkers to think he’s the actual menace. I swear I’m not projecting.

A nice twisty plot, excellent sets and great performances make this a fun, valuable film noir. I haven't seen a lot of Charles Laughton movies but I think I could watch that guy in anything.

Very sound noir with a couple of good set pieces and strong outings from Milland and especially Laughton. Not breaking much new ground but very little to complain about with a good cast. Laughton is always so great to watch.

O relógio verde tinha sua première há 75 anos em Detroit. Nem sempre gosto do Farrow, o acho um diretor bem mediano, mas aqui ele supera todas as expectativas, faz ao mesmo tempo uma crítica ao poder da imprensa, um noir redondido e um thriller de primeira. Muita gente deve conhecer a refilmagem dos anos 80 transposta para a Guerra Fria com Kevin Costner, No Way Out, que passava aos montes na TV aberta nos anos 90. É uma versão que também gosto, mas a do Farrow é insuperável. Box Versátil Filme

Great but not brilliant murder frame-up. In a way the clumsy cover-up by Charles Laughton and his team make it almost comical take on a potentially more dangerous situation. And that's what you'd want from Laughton. His wife Elsa Lanchester was in this too a a screwy old dame, so absolutely a entertaining one.

One of the snappiest scripts even for the noir "genre". Charles Laughton steals every scene he is in.

The big what?

This slowly builts up to a ingenious twist on the Hitchcockian "wrong man and mistaken identity" trope by having Milland play an crime reporter who has to search for himself, because his boss (an imposing Laughton) wants to frame him for murder. John Farrow's direction distinguishes itself by the frequent use of accomplished long takes. For an 1940s genre movie it is surprisingly critical of the corporate world.

Not bad at all. The story progresses nicely, forcing the protagonist into one corner after another, until the explosive finale.

watched: 2016, 2023

Really tense thriller with a magnificent performance from Sir Charles Laughton.

İyi vakit geçirtme misyonunu başarıyla gerçekleştiren, gösterişsiz ama derli toplu, eli yüzü düzgün bir film noir. He, bir de Charles Laughton var tabii.

Near-perfect murder mystery about a Big Town crime reporter, overdue for vacation, following a killer's trail that seems to lead straight to himself. Classically compressed in time and space (two of the three "unities"), and the action (the third) is ushered along swiftly and flowingly by the underrated director. The title object is both an imposing and useful item in itself and an unstrained symbol of bigger things. Remade in 1987 as No Way Out, far, far from perfect.

Suspenseful, atmospheric film with good work from Laughton and Milland.

Excellent, old school tinseltown thriller. Apart from Laughton (who positively oozes evil here) there's nothing that really wows you. It's just damned entertaining, finely crafted fun.

Laughton hams it up, and as this progresses, that ham is the only sustenance to be found.

There was a lot of potential here, but I was disappointed. Despite a great frame-up plot, the meandering pace and flat tone deprive it of any tension or suspense. It doesn't help that it tries to throw in a lame joke every once in a while. Ray Milland isn't particularly bad, but I was completely indifferent to his character. George Macready is fine also, but the only truly stand-out aspect of the entire film is Charles Laughton, who is really fantastic at playing it sinister.

A good film noir, which makes it a very good but not great film. Laughton and Milland are both good, if a little one dimensional, and the plot has some decent twists and suspense, despite a couple of leaps of faith it asks from the viewer. Not especially memorable but quite enjoyable.

Nicely done thriller. Better yet, there's no Sean Young

There's nothing spectacular about it, but it's a pretty enjoyable cat-and-mouse thriller. It seems like a bit of a dud at first... lackluster performances, lame jokes, all those annoying references to clocks, standard "little guy vs. corporate fat cat" scenario. But it builds to a fever pitch, getting incredibly tense by the end. Good fun, despite some minor plotholes and missed opportunities (oh, the things they could have done with that intercom!).