The Big Clock

George Stroud edits a flashy crime magazine and longs for a quiet trip with his wife, but a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is told to find the killer. His publisher insists the investigation must protect the magazine and Stroud’s career, so he begins chasing leads with his usual speed. Yet the deeper he digs, the more suspicion gathers around him as colleagues treat him like a suspect. Time runs short, loyalties blur, and powerful interests push back. Stroud must balance newsroom pressure, personal risk, and a web of enemies who would prefer he vanish. The film tracks a man wrestling control and moral lines under pressure. In the end the truth tests his courage and his narrow escape.

Directed by John Farrow, The Big Clock pulls from the crime fiction work of Jonathan Latimer and Kenneth Fearing. The film pairs his brisk pacing with sharp dialogue as it translates a newsroom murder mystery into a tense screen thriller.

Box office data for The Big Clock is not widely documented, and the film is more noted today for its craft than any spectacular commercial take. It has remained a curio for noir enthusiasts, rarely still singled out in tallies.

The Big Clock is often cited as a crisp example of film noir that blends a newsroom setting with a relentless ticking clock energy. Its precise pacing, sharp exchanges, and glare of corporate power left a mark on later office bound thrillers and crime dramas. Its urban texture carries pressure.

Critics praised its taut storytelling and Milland's nervous, resourceful turn as Stroud. Laughton brings a looming menace as Janoth, heightening corporate power and newsroom pressure. The film centers on ambition, media influence, and the ethics tested when survival collides with truth. Its tension still invites discussion about power and accountability.