George Stroud (Ray Milland) is the editor-in-chief of “Crimeways”, essentially a print version of a “True Crime” podcast that’s earned a reputation (and its market share) for identifying the guilty before the police can. He’s trying to take a well-earned vacation with his wife, but his bully of a boss, Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton), pulls him back to take charge of a new story – a model who did some work with another magazine in Janoth’s publishing empire has been found dead in her apartment. George is tasked with finding the killer RIGHT AWAY before they have to call in the police.

What Stroud doesn’t know – but we viewers do – is that Janoth is the killer. The model was his mistress, and he killed her in a fit of anger when she broke up with him. What Stroud does know is that after he believed he got fired and missed his train to head out on vacation, he went out for a couple of drinks to drown his marital troubles – and wound up meeting the mistress, visited a few drinking establishments with her (and doing things that made him memorable), and then saw her back to her place before heading off to join his wife. And all the investigating he’s doing is making it more and more likely that he’s going to be nailed for the murder.

A rather interesting set up for an early “film noir”, isn’t it.

Complicating the matter is that Stroud and Janoth caught a glimpse of each other outside the model’s apartment. Not enough to identify each other, but Janoth knows there’s someone else he can pin the murder on, and Stroud knows there was someone else involved – if only he can get some evidence.

The pacing is tight, and fast. The movie takes place over little more than a single twenty-four hour period. It’s almost too fast; you’re not given a chance to appreciate the acting. But, you also don’t have time to notice whatever plot holes and inconsistencies there might be (like why anyone would choose Wheeling WV for a honeymoon – I’m sure it’s a lovely city with many fine attractions, but as a honeymoon destination?*). In any case, the story wraps up nicely.

The movie is an adaptation of a novel by Kenneth Fearing, who worked for Time Magazine at the time. Apparently, Janoth is supposed to be a fictionalized version of Time’s publisher, Henry Luce. Either Luce missed the depiction, or he didn’t care.

Elsa Lanchester provides a bit of comic relief as eccentric artist Louise Patterson. I gather that Laughton, at this stage in his career, was extremely difficult to work with. Since Lanchester was his wife, having her on the set surely helped smooth things over.

The “big clock” of the title has no bearing on the story – except to be a brief hiding place for Stroud as the net closes around him.

* Maybe they stayed at the Oglebay, which in the late 1940s had a number of rentable cabins for overnight stays, and assorted outdoor activities…..