The Big Clock (1948)

When the head (Charles Laughton) of a publishing empire assigns his crime editor (Ray Milland) to track down a mysterious man who may have killed a woman (Rita Johnson), who just happened to be the tycoon's mistress, the editor finds himself in the unenviable position of tracking down ... himself! Can he expose the real killer before the circumstantial evidence does him in? Based on a novel by Kenneth Fearing, this is a smart unassuming slice of film noir with dollops of humor thrown in. Perhaps too much as it often takes away from the tension that director John Farrow has carefully built up and one cheap laugh that stretches credibility though it's convenient for our hero's escape. I'm not a big fan of Milland's work in general but he's inoffensive here. The slack is picked up by Laughton, George Macready as his right hand man, Elsa Lanchester as an eccentric painter and a host of first rate character actors. Overall though, a clever taut thriller that just misses being classic. Updated and remade in 1987 as NO WAY OUT with Kevin Costner in Milland's role. With Maureen O'Sullivan (the director's wife) as Milland's wife, Harry Morgan, Lloyd Corrigan, Richard Webb and Dan Tobin.