Just so...so bad

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

This movie stands out for films in the genre. It's a very gimmicky tale, and a bit confusing, but it remains entertaining and by the flick's end, it asserts its own individuality.Laughton is a wonderful villain here. His performance? For the most part, lethargic would be an apt description. His one 'Mr. Hyde' moment is his brutal killing of his paramour, a very pretty Rita Johnson, which stands out, because we see the tub of lard Laughton back to his old lethargy soon afterward, as he is enjoying a massage.Featured also is a strangely sinister Henry Morgan, who of course later became the amiable character actor Harry Morgan of 'MASH' and 'Pete and Gladys' from television.Maureen O'Sullivan is given a very nominal role as Ray Milland's long-suffering wife. She actually figures into the movie's melodramatic climax, but is seen throughout the film basically nagging her husband, who is of course 'married' to the Jonith Newspaper, Jonith being Laughton's role.Farrow and his screenwriter have fashioned an unusual murder tale where we are given all of the information. We are shown the murder, and, as even Sir Alfred Hitchcock would surely appreciate, we are left to agonize over Milland's plight of easily being framed for a crime he didn't commit.Venerable character actor Lloyd Corrigan is put to good use. George Macready is wonderful playing his usual shady, snaky character. Milland's performance is spirited and the action moves fast. It's easily a film you would appreciate more the second time.In short, the film is made with the assumption that the audience has a brain and an imagination. And let's not forget the wonderfully eccentric Elsa Lanchester, perfectly cast as the down-on-her-luck painter out to profit one way or another from the scandal.

Besides being a who-done-it, this movie is also a brilliant comedy. Ray Milland and Charles Laughton give stellar performances as men who are at odds with each other, with lethal results. The rest of the cast is also excellent, especially Elsa Lancaster who plays an artist with a quick wit. The plot is clever, the acting wonderful, the cinematography catches the story's mood, and the movie, with all its twists and turns, is in general engaging and entertaining, The movie contains so many wonderful performances. And even though the movie was made in the late 1040s, it's still watchable today. That is, the movie has aged well and deals with issues that would resonate with today's audience. One thing about Ray Milland: he was a great actor with great screen presence, and proves that it this movie.

Poor Harry Morgan. Do you think he was as repulsed as he looked giving Charles Laughton a massage, sinking his hands into that fat squishy body? I don't know, that scene just really creeped me out. And then I thought about Elsa Lanchester doing it for real in the privacy of their own home, seeing as how they were married to each other. Man, I just got a shiver up my spine.Anyway, this is a neat little thriller, even if it's not a mystery once we see the murder committed by Laughton's character. That's when the fun starts as Ray Milland must use all of his wits to track down the killer as all the circumstantial evidence points to himself, even before anyone knows there's a dead body to be found. The film makes good use of eccentric characters portrayed by Lanchester, Morgan, Lloyd Corrigan, and George Macready, with the story taking some clever twists and turns on it's way to a satisfying conclusion.Actually, the ending struck me as just a bit haphazard, seeing as how the picture borrowed from any number of B Westerns of the preceding era. How many times have you seen the villain attempt to frame the innocent hero of the story, only to shoot the character that threatens to expose the real guilty party in front of witnesses. How does the baddie think he'll ever get away with it? Fortunately, the hero comes through as he did here, while the the real killer inevitably gets the shaft.

Big Clock, The (1948) *** (out of 4) Tense thriller about a crime magazine editor (Ray Milland) who spends the night with a blonde (Rita Johnson) not knowing that she's involved with his sadistic boss (Charles Laughton). It turns out that after the editor sneaks out of the woman's apartment he sees his boss enter and the next morning she's dead. The boss tried to hide his guilt and puts the editor on the case not knowing he knows the truth but all the evidence points to the editor who must try and clear his name before anyone finds out. I'll plead guilty and admit that I think the remake NO WAY OUT is a better all around movie but that doesn't take away anything from this film, which still manages to be quite intense and highly entertaining. I think it goes without saying but the greatest thing this movie has to offer is Milland and Laughton who deliver terrific performances. Milland was always great at acting nervous and that comes in handy here because of the tension his character is constantly under. No matter where in the story you are you can just look in his eyes and see how panicked he is. Laughton, on the other hand, was perfect at playing creeps and he does a wonderful job with this character. The actor makes this guy such a snake you can't help but hear rattles each time he opens his mouth throwing out another demand. The scenes where the men are going against one another with Laughton not knowing what Milland knows is terrific and adds a lot of fun. Johnson is also very good in her few scenes in the film as is George Macready as the snake trying to help Laughton. Maureen O'Sullivan is wasted as Milland's wife, although the performance isn't too bad. Another very impressive thing about this film is that it takes place inside a magazine office where their job is to track down killers using their own method. This method of piecing everything together is quite clever and I think it adds a lot of fun to the film as they slowly pick up pieces that shine the light on Milland while at the same time he's trying to get evidence to clear his name. One of the best scenes in the film happens once the building is closed down and no one can leave without walking past a man who can identify the Milland character. The ways this is played out were quite effective and worthy of a few nail bites. I think some of the comedy in the film works but at times it goes a bit too far and the entire subplot with Milland's wife was rather bland and didn't add too much. It also doesn't help with plot holes including Laughton being able to give orders to lock down a building and being able to order people to shoot a man to death without the cops being involved. With that said, the attractive cast and tense direction makes THE BIG CLOCK a film that still doesn't get the credit it deserves.