Ray Milland and Charles Laughton head the cast in “The Big Clock”

The Big Clock (1948) is an American film noir directed by John Farrow and starring Ray Milland and Charles Laughton. The supporting cast included Maureen O’Sullivan (Mrs. John Farrow), George Macready, Rita Johnson, Harry Morgan, and Elsa Lancaster (Mrs. Charles Laughton).

When George Stroud, editor-in-chief of Crimeways magazine, refuses to follow up on a missing person story because he wants to go on a long-postponed honeymoon with his wife, Georgette (O’Sullivan), and young son, he is fired by his boss, Earl Janoth (Laughton).

George drowns his sorrows at a bar where he meets Janoth’s mistress Pauline York (Johnson). George loses track of time and misses his train for his honeymoon. Disgusted, Georgette leaves without him. George spends more time with Pauline and he buys a painting and a sundial.

George eventually goes to Pauline’s apartment. He has no idea how this one action will change his life forever.

 

John Farrow (1904 – 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He did most of his film work in the United States. He won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Around the World in Eighty Days and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for Wake Island (1942). Farrow’s best success came as a contract director at Paramount Pictures. At Paramount he directed China (1943) starring Alan Ladd and Loretta Young, Two Years Before the Mast made in 1944, but released in 1946, Calcutta (1947), California (1947), and The Big Clock (1948). After he left Paramount, his directorial career was diminished and he never again had a major film success.

Ray Milland (1907 – 1986) was a Welsh-American movie star and film director. He won a Best Actor Oscar for portraying an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945). Milland played bit parts at M-G-M and Paramount. While at Paramount, he was loaned to Universal to for a lead in the Deanna Durbin movie Three Smart Girls (1936). The success of the film led to him being cast in leading roles. He became one of Paramount’s biggest stars, remaining there for almost 20 years. Other films starring Milland include The Major and the Minor (1942), Reap the Wild Wind (1942), where he had top billing over John Wayne, the horror classic The Uninvited (1944), The Big Clock (1948), and Dial M for Murder (1954). Later in his career, he starred as Ryan O’Neal’s father in Love Story (1970).

Charles Laughton (1899 – 1962) had a long career on the stage and in Hollywood. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Henry VIII in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) and was nominated for two other Best Actor Oscars for his performances in Mutiny on the Bounty (1933) and Witness for the Prosecution (1957). His performance in The Suspect is considered one of Laughton’s most natural screen performances, which is credited to director Siodmak, a close personal friend of the actor.

 

Ray Milland and Charles Laughton in a publicity still

The Big Clock trivia

• Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton) is based on Henry Luce, the author of the novel on which the movie is based, who worked for.
• Paramount insisted that Maureen O’Sullivan audition for the role of Georgette Stroud.
• George Stroud’s $30,000 a-year salary is equivalent to over $388,000 a year today.
• Noel Neill, played the uncredited elevator operator before she played Lois Lane on the Superman television show.
• Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, and Maureen O’Sullivan previously co-starred in Payment Deferred in 1932.

Click HERE to watch the movie on the Internet Archive.

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Rita Johnson and Ray Milland

Discussion questions

1. The Big Clock has a reputation as one of the top films noir from the 1940s. What do you think?
2. Some critics don’t consider The Big Clock a film noir. What do you think? If not a film noir, what genre would you classify it as?
3. Does the screwball humor with Elsa Lancaster add to the movie’s plot? Do you think it’s overdone or appropriate?
4. What did you think of Ray Milland’s performance? How does it compare to his performance in The Lost Weekend?
5. Were Milland and Maureen O’Sullivan believable as a married couple?
6. What about Charles Laughton's performance? Was he believable as the boss from hell? Did Meryl Streep’s character seem human compared to Earl Janoth?
7. Did John Seitz’s (Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard) cinematography add to the suspense of the film?
8. Was there a piece of dialogue or a particular scene that stuck out to you?

Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford burn up the screen in “Gilda”

Gilda (1946) is an American film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. The cinematography is by Rudolph Mate and Hayworth’s legendary costumes were designed by Jean Louis. The supporting cast includes George Macready, Joseph Calleia, and Steven Geray.

Johnny Farrell (Ford), a new arrival to Buenos Aires, Argentina almost loses his life after cheating at craps, he finds himself being saved by Ballin Mundson (Macready). Ballin tells Johnny about a high-class casino and recommends that he not try to cheat there.

Johnny ignores Ballin’s advice and starts winning at blackjack. Little does Johnny know that the casino is owned by Ballin. Instead of getting kicked out of the casino, Johnny convinces Ballin that he should hire him. Ballin hires Johnny and soon he becomes Ballin’s right-hand man.

When Ballin brings home Gilda (Hayworth) as his new wife, things get a bit rocky. Unknown to Ballin, Johnny and Gilda have a romantic history beginning to crack in public. Will Ballin discover the truth? And what will that mean for Johnny and Gilda?

“Put the Blame on Mame”  

Charles Vidor (1900 – 1959) was a Hungarian film director whose career started during the early days of talking pictures. Vidor is most famous for the work he did under contract to Columbia Pictures including Ladies in Retirement (1941), Cover Girl (1944), Together Again (1944), A Song to Remember (1945), and Gilda (1946). After leaving Columbia, Vidor directed Hans Christian Andersen (1952) for Sam Goldwyn, Love Me or Leave Me (1955) for M-G-M, and The Joker is Wild (1957) for Paramount. Vidor suffered a heart attack and died three weeks into filming.

Rita Hayworth (1918 - 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and producer. She was one of the biggest stars of the 1940s and was the top pin-up among GIs during World War II. Hayworth was Gilda (1946) opposite Glenn Ford. A still from this film made it to the cover of Life magazine where she was dubbed “The Love Goddess,” a title she hated. An accomplished dancer, she starred with Fred Astaire in two films: You’ll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942). In 1944 she starred in Cover Girl with Gene Kelly. Other popular Hayworth films include Tonight and Every Night (1945), Down to Earth (1947), The Loves of Carmen (1948), Affair in Trinidad (1952), Miss Sadie Thompson (1953), Fire Down Below (1957), Pal Joey (1957) where she received top billing over Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak, Separate Tables (1958), and They Came to Cordura (1959). Hayworth was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which contributed to her death at age 68.

Glenn Ford (1916 - 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who was one of the biggest box office draws for three decades. Ford acted on stage in California before being signed to a contract with Columbia Pictures. He appeared in mostly B movies until The Lady in Question (1940), the first time he was paired with fellow Columbia contract player, Rita Hayworth. After serving in the Coast Guard during World War II, Ford’s career began to take off. He and Hayworth had a huge hit with Gilda (1946) and A Stolen Life (1946) with Bette Davis. Ford came into his own in the 1950s with films like Blackboard Jungle (1955), Interrupted Melody (1955) with Eleanor Parker, Jubal (1956), and The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) with Jeanne Crain, all box office successes. By the end of the decade, Ford was one of the biggest stars in the world. Ford continued making movies in the 1960s but his successes were more uneven than in the previous decade but had hits with Experiment in Terror (1962) and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father  (1963). In 1978, he played Clark Kent’s adoptive father in Superman. His last film role was Raw Nerve (1991).

Gilda trivia

• Rita Hayworth’s voice was dubbed by Anita Ellis.
• Humphrey Bogart was offered the role of Johnny Farrell but declined reasoning that no one would notice him playing against the beautiful Hayworth.
• Hayworth wore a corset when she shot the “Put the Blame on Mame” number. She had given birth to her first daughter, Rebecca Welles, just months before filming.
• Gilda was such a financial success that Hayworth’s agent negotiated that going forward, she received 25% of her films’ profits.
• Glenn Ford hadn’t been on the screen since 1943 due to his service in the Marines during World War II.
• Charles Vidor previously directed Hayworth in Cover Girl (1944).

To watch the movie on YouTube, click here.

 

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Glenn Ford and George Macready

Discussion questions

1. Gilda is considered one of the great films noir. Does it work as a film noir for you?
2. Is Gilda a femme fatale? Why or why not?
3. Modern reviewers make much of the relationship between Ballin and Johnny. What do you think is at the heart of their relationship?
4. What did you think of the on-screen chemistry between Hayworth and Ford?
5. We don’t get a lot of backstory, but do you think Gilda and Johnny really love each other?
6. The “Put the Blame on Mame” number has reached icon status. Do you think it’s deserved?
7. Could you follow the plot? Was that important?