The Big Clock
- APPROVED
- Year:
- 1948
- 95 min
- 165 Views
Whew! That was close.
What happens
if I get inside the clock
and the watchman's there?
Think fast, George.
That's a break.
He's off duty.
More guards. The lobby's
sewed up like a sack,
and they said,
"Shoot to kill."
They meant you, George.
You.
How'd I get
into this rat race, anyway?
I'm no criminal.
What happened?
When did it all start?
Just 36 hours ago
I was down there,
crossing that lobby
on my way to work,
minding my own business,
looking forward to
Thirty-six hours ago
I was a decent, respectable
law-abiding citizen...
with a wife and a kid
and a big job.
Just 36 hours ago
by the big clock.
And it's the most accurate...
and the most unique
privately-owned clock
in the world.
Now, behind this huge
map of the globe...
is a single
master mechanism.
Built at a cost
of $600,000,
it is set so you can
tell the time
anywhere on the Earth:
London, Chicago,
Honolulu and so forth.
It also
synchronizes the clocks
in this building...
with those in the secondary
printing plants...
in Kansas City
and San Francisco...
and in the 43 foreign bureaus
of the Janoth organization.
Hey, mister,
I'd like to ask somethin'.
Yes, sir.
What happens
if the clock stops?
Oh, Mr. Janoth
Good morning, Betty.
Good morning, Mr. Stroud.
Here it is.
Thank you.
We will now visit
the public exhibits...
displaying
the latest developments...
in the various fields
covered by the Janoth
publications.
Elevator is going up.
Going up.
This elevator
is going up.
Next car, please.
Hello, Joe.
Hiya, George.
Hello, George.
Hello, Lily.
You're looking mighty
smart this morning.
Well, thank you.
I should ride this
more often.
- Sportways.
- Hold it!
Ten, please.
Hello, Miss Gold.
Oh, hello.
Mister, would you mind?
The elevator doesn't run
unless the door is closed.
I'm sorry. Excuse me.
Do you work this shift
every day?
Airways.
We might feature
the reliability angle.
You're safer in an airplane
than you are in a bathtub.
Here's a sketch.
We've got nice elevators
in our building too.
Come on over sometime.
I'll give you a free ride.
Artways. Up.
Down?
What's the matter?
I got poison ivy?
We are not allowed
to speak to people
in the elevators.
Mr. Janoth
doesn't permit it.
Styleways, please.
Watch your step.
Gentlemen,
watch yourselves.
Newsways, please.
Newsways.
Newsways.
Crimeways.
Eleven?
"Age 63, frequents
Metropolite City Club,
Skyview Luncheon Club.
Background:
bankingbusiness for 46 years..."
I'm expecting him any minute.
I'll tell him
the instant he arrives.
Hold it. Mr. Stroud,
Salt Lake's on the line, and
your wife's trying to reach you.
Put Salt Lake on.
All right, fine.
But they're on.
The conference.
It's almost 11:
00.Plenty of time.
But Mr. Janoth...
Hello. Yeah?
Yes, this is Stroud.
Hello, Max.
How you makin' out?
But, George...
Ya have? Oh, wonderful!
Where was he?
What did I tell ya?
Once a seashell man,
always a seashell man.
They're waiting.
Will he talk?
Well, pretend you're
a fellow collector.
Ask him if he was gonna
spend the dough
on oysters or blondes.
Yeah. You've got an hour
and 53 minutes to get
the story. Attaboy, Max.
We've just located Fleming.
They're waiting for you.
Grace,
call the composing room.
We're gonna replate.
And get my wife.
George, you're
the only one not there.
Mr. Janoth
will be furious.
Time is money.
Fleming is in Salt Lake.
Milner's gonna
wire us a story.
Here are the proofs
of the story you had set up.
Go on, Roy. Go on. Hello?
Oh, hello, darling.
Yeah.
Huh?
No bath and no oatmeal?
Let me talk to him.
All right,
but he doesn't
believe he's going.
He thinks it's
just like last trip
and the time before...
and all the other trips
we didn't go on.
I'll let you talk to him.
George, Daddy wants
to talk to you.
Hello, Daddy.
But I don't believe
we're going.
But this is the McCoy,
an expedition. Your mother's
gonna do the cooking.
What? Yeah,
I know it's tough,
but you'll do the hunting.
That's why you should
eat your oatmeal,
build up your strength.
Look under my pillow.
Oh, boy! Look, Mommy!
An atomic disintegrator!
I think you've
sold him, Wonderman.
I'll let you know at lunch.
dear.
All right, dear,
Bye, darling.
Today's agenda
is solely on the subject
of increasing circulation.
The figures
for the second quarter
have fallen off badly.
From a monthly high
of 33 million in January,
we've had
a six-percent recession,
a loss of almost
In some cases, we are below
the circulation levels we have
guaranteed our advertisers.
Mr. Janoth's very upset.
He's going to want ideas.
Sit down, gentlemen.
Sit down.
I resent this.
I resent this deeply.
There are
in the average man's life,
each tick of the clock
the beat of a heart,
and yet you sit here
uselessly ticking
your lives away...
because certain members
are not on schedule.
Where is George Stroud?
Roy's trying
to find him.
I do not propose
to be held up,
not even by Mr. Stroud.
Have you told the others
what we want?
Ideas to build circulation.
Not just ideas.
Dynamic angles.
We live in a dynamic age
with dynamic competitors...
radio, newspapers, newsreels...
and we must anticipate trends
before they are trends.
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"The Big Clock" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_big_clock_4040>.
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