The Cinematheque

“Strong performances … evocative direction … and marvelous high contrast photography, portraying a world in which nothing is as it seems.”

Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Hollywood veteran John Farrow directs a slick, suspenseful noir thriller propelled by head-spinning plot twists and centring on a big frame-up. Ray Milland is George, a crime journalist with a troubled marriage (Maureen O’Sullivan plays his wife) and a tyrannical publishing-tycoon boss (Charles Laughton). Neglecting his matrimonial obligations in order to investigate the murder of a young woman, George soon makes a shocking discovery: all clues point to George himself as the prime suspect in the case! The film’s title refers to its central set-piece, a mammoth corporate clock ticking off George’s frantic race against time, and suggestive of the cold, mechanistic universe in which the action unfolds. Elsa Lanchester has a memorable supporting role as an eccentric artist. 1987’s No Way Out remodeled the film as a Cold War thriller.

“Outstanding … In its fiendishly brilliant plot construction and media empire milieu, it is far more memorable than the remake No Way Out.”

Kim Newman, Empire