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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"The Big Clock" is a
brilliant labyrinth of dark humor and cyclical
twists and turns -- rather like riding a funhouse
car into the murky blackness of uncertainty but
with the nervous expectation that you are about to
be frightened out of your mind.
The film is a taut, lean thriller that presents a
curious predicament for its hero, George Stroud
(Ray Milland). He's a star reporter who is
assigned to cover the murder of a mysterious woman
by his punctually obsessed editor, Earl Janoth
(Charles Laughton). There's just one little
wrinkle that needs to be overcome; the overworked
Stroud not only knows the woman in question but
also spent the night with her before she met with
her untimely demise. There's also something else
to consider; the woman was Janoth's mistress. Now
the question arises for Stroud: how to accurately
cover the scoop, report all the facts, expose the
killer and keep his own name out of the
proceedings. Both men are feverishly working to
solve the crime, unwittingly culminating in
accusations that will expose both their prior
relationships with the corpse. Elsa Lanchester
appears as Louise Patterson, the high-strung
painter whose sketch of the prime suspect slowly
begins to take on the figure of George Stroud.
"The Big Clock" was remade in 1987 as the Kevin
Costner thriller, "No Way Out."
This is a very handsome looking DVD transfer from
Universal. The gray scale is very nicely balanced
with solid, deep and rich blacks and very smooth
looking whites. There are instances where contrast
levels appear somewhat low and fine detail seems
slightly out of focus, but truly, there's nothing
to generally disappoint one from this visual
presentation. Occasionally pixelization breaks
apart the background information -- but only
briefly and usually between dissolves. There's
also a minor hint of edge enhancement that is
barely noticeable. The audio is mono but very
nicely cleaned up. There are no extras. |
