Evening star., 1948-04-22

made passages OF sacred and prof
for Willing away something less
than two hours.
Nevertheless, a warning Is due po-
tential Palace patrons They should
b advised that the whole thing is
quite absurd and that, Intentionally
or otherwise, THE Big Clock" Is
more q satirtcal farce than q melo-
drama. 1t is funny instead OF being
exciting and although this may have
been what Paramount had in mind,
1t intimates the latter.
"The Big Clock" based upon Ken
meth Fearing's novel Of the same
name, gives the publishing industry
the kind Of going-over that Fred
erick Wakeman had in mind for
radio when he wrote "The Huck-
sters." It's central figure is a mag
azine tycoon-Newsways, Future
ways, Sideways, Crimeways. all
ways but SideWays-who is mad
with power. Unlike Evan Llewellyn
Evans, Wakeman's man does not
spit on tables, but he Is pure poison
In the body polite and makes
neurotic pulps Of the poor devils
who work for him.
This fellow, played by Laughton,
Is pitted against Milland In battle
of good and evil. In wonderfully
cockeyed way, the conflict turns on
which of the two will be tagged for
the murder of a morally sleazy
blond. Hers Is a strange face to
put on the issue of economic royal
ism. but If Paramount wants it that
way-well, 1t can have 1t.
The incredibilities Of THE Big
Clock" begin at once. They start
with the pictures principal setting,
q fantastically modernistic building
which stands as a monument to
Earl Janoth's Gaughtono publish
ing empire. The dominant feature
of this startling ediflce Is a clock.
It tells time not only in New York,
but everywhere, including the Afri-
can veldt. Janoth is crazy about
clocks, among a million other ways
In which he Is crazy.
What damage is this fellow going
to do to little people like us?
Well, he Is menace what with
all that money and those chain
f1ssion magazines. The common
man who presumably reads Janoth's
magazines "a hours daily Is not
without his defender. He is never
allowed to forget that Milland Is
there, an important editor IN jan
oth's setup.
Like Gable in THE Hucksters," he
knows how to deal with these ruth
less tycoons. He is late for staff
meetings, he is ,cleverly uncivil to
the old tyrant, he laughs when the
latter threatens to blacklist him
with every magazine In the country.
And, supreme arrogance, Milland
even moves In on the boss private
girl friend. a loose beauty with
whom the handsome young editor
drinks green stingers.
Everybody, Of course. is beautifully
dressed, but this Is the stuff Of raw
conflict. Director John FarroW sees
that 1t Is played to the hilt.
Milland's role In The Big Clock
Is as lively as such things get. AS
a sort of alcoholic throw-back to
the hero of Lost Week End" he
contrives a comedy portrait that is
not lost even in the most excited
passages Of the Palace screen play.
The latter. incidentally, revolve
around the tycoon's effort to pin
his blond friends murder on some
body else. anybody else. Fearing's
original story was constructed in
such a fashion as to make Milland
the most likely substitute. The
screen script goes right along with
it there.
In view of the fact that 'The Big
Clock" fairly screams for happy
ending, 1t is a cinch that Milland
will win out in the end. But with
all the suspects locked in the pub
fishing house and the tycoon's gun
men on the hunt for a likely VIC
tim, Farrow's direction works up a
reasonable degree of doubt.
At least, it is the most hysterical