High Class and Glossy, this Lively Production is Filled to the Top with Big Stars, Big Sets, and a Big Story All Wrapped Up in a Slick Package for Post War Audiences that Wanted Quality Pictures for Their Meager Ticket Prices.Headlined by Ray Milland and Charles Laughton and Surrounded by Familiar Character Actors that Resonate, All Decked Out in Modern Fancy Big City Attire, the Film is a Treat to Look At with John Farrow's Artsy Direction and Fancy Blocking Using the Moving Camera in the Wide Open Indoor Spaces of Big Buildings that were a World Within a World.The Story is Complicated Enough and Interesting Enough for Mystery Fans and Crime Aficionados. Elsa Lanchester Devours the Scenery Playfully Adding the Comedy Relief and Wrings Every Second of Her Short Screen Time. This is Borderline Film-Noir and is Usually Included On Lists but Hardly Pure and Definite. The Strong Off Center Characters, Some Lighting Effects, and an Innocent Man on the Lam are its Strongest Noir Elements but Other Non-Norish Ingredients are too Prevalent to Make this Quintassential. The Corporate Takeover of the American Soul is a Subtext to All This and is Done with Symbolism and Clever Innuendos and is a Film-Noir Consideration.Overall, Not Without Some Weak Ingredients, Like the Back Story of the Workaholic with the Neglected Family, and the Opening Binge that Goes On too Long. This is a Solid, Highly Polished Picture that is Almost Magazine Like in its Pretty Pictures of the Post-War, Urban Landscape of Upper Middle Class Life When $30,000 a Year was a Hefty Paycheck and worth mentioning a number of times in the Film and was Laid Out for the Budding Capitalist in the Audience to Ponder.

"The Big Clock" is an example of an otherwise simple film made exceptional by masters at work, such as Ray Milland and Charles Laughton, but especially director John Farrow and his crew of technicians. Black and white photography, scenes gliding into each other, and taut direction of the action highlight this story of writer Milland working for publishing tycoon Laughton and getting caught up in a murder scandal. By way of flashback, we see how it all began, why Milland is on the run, and how clocks play a part in this sinister and fun film. With a solid supporting cast of George Macready, Henry(Harry) Morgan (who's spooky in a non-speaking role,) Maureen O'Sullivan (Farrow's wife in real life,) Rita Johnson (who I always liked in movies with her own little sparkle), and Elsa Lanchester (Laughton's wife in real life) in a scene-stealing role. In fact, Laughton seems to be the type of actor who doesn't emote much, but steals the scene from others in little ways. The plot unfolds and develops intricately but simply and it's delicious the whole way. This film really gets you in the mood for another film and another film, immersing yourself in the age of the old-fashioned movies they just don't make anymore. Period.

This is a great, high enjoyable film, that can easily compete with some of Hitchock's greatest films, like "Dial M for Murder", "Frenzy", "The wrong man" etc.Milland and Laughton are both great and the movie keeps you in suspense with a smart script and a lot of anxiety while Milland tries to avoid being discovered. Many good films let you down in the end, but fortunately this is not one of them.I do not understand how someone could not like this movie, especially if you like Hitchcock style. I honestly believe it is unfair for this film to have a rating below 8...

I give this film a "7", though it was a temptation to give it an "8", but a "7" is my highest rating, unless we are talking one of the great films of all time. And this film is not that, but it is darned good.It is darned good because it is darned different. I can't think of another film that is at all like it (except perhaps the recent remake). It's a rather unique plot with a unique character (Charles Laughton) and a unique setting.The story begins via flashback. As it unfolds, Ray Milland's character (editor-in-chief of a crime magazine) inadvertently gets tied into a murder of a woman he met...who just happened to be the girlfriend of the magazine's's owner (Charles Laughton) -- a real sleaze bag...and the real killer! All the cards are stacked against Milland, however, and his desperate task is to clear himself and implicate the real murdered (whom he thinks is Laughton's assistant). What happens in between all this is clever and different, with a host of odd characters.Milland, whom I've come to respect more lately as I've seen some films of his of which I was not previously aware, is excellent here. So is Charles Laughton, although this is another role of Laughton's where we love despising him. And incidentally, Laughton's mustache here may be one of the worst in any film in cinema history! The other main character is Maureen O'Sullivan as Milland's wife, though this is quite a step down from her as she plains a supporting, rather than a starring role. You'll recognize quite a few other characters, though none is memorable, despite each being key to the plot.The ending is a total surprise, although it happens just a tad too quickly to savor.That's all not to say that there aren't some problems here. We all have had jobs we don't like. Why exactly are this husband and wife so thrilled to be without and income? At 58 minutes into the film you can clearly see the shadow of the boom mic. Why are Elsa Lanchester's children from 3 different marriages all approximately the same age?Nevertheless, this may very well be one for your DVD shelf!