The Clock

source: The Clock

The first, but by no means the last non-musical film that Arthur Freed produced at MGM was The Clock based on a short story by Paul and Pauline Gallico about a whirlwind 48 hour romance between a soldier on leave and a young girl in New York. The title refers to the famous clock in Pennsylvania Station where they first meet and later agree to a rendezvous there. The young lovers are Robert Walker and Judy Garland. Walker the previous year had scored with a couple of breakthrough roles in Since You Went Away and See Here Private Hargrove. Garland was doing her first non-singing part on screen. It's a tender and touching story about young people in war time. Walker is playing an extension of the earnest young soldier he played in Since You Went Away. You can see his character living home and hearth and grandfather Monty Woolley from Since You Went Away and having a 48 hour leave and meeting Judy Garland. Originally Fred Zinneman was to direct The Clock, but he and Garland had no rapport and Zinneman himself got Arthur Freed to take him off. Judy's then husband Vincente Minnelli finished his work on Ziegfeld Follies and came over to direct his wife. This was also Minnelli's first non-musical effort in any medium since on the stage he had done nothing but musicals. James Gleason almost steals the film from Walker and Garland as the romantic minded milkman who gives them a lift and then when he gets injured, they finish his deliveries. Walker and Garland then join Gleason for breakfast at his home where his wife is played by his real life wife Lucille Gleason. They would suffer a horrific tragedy that year when their son Russell Gleason was killed in a fall from a window, circumstances still unknown. In fact this was a tragic film all around because both Walker and Garland died way too young. Keenan Wynn is in the film for one scene and it's a good one as he does a great drunk act. The Clock is a fine romantic story that still holds up well for today. For lovers of young love everywhere.

Perhaps not one of the all-time great wartime romance films ('Casablanca' being the quintessential one), but still ranks very highly as one. It really charms and touches, has great performances and direction and it is among the best films and performances of both Judy Garland and Robert Walker. Where 'The Clock' fares least is in some of the background photography, which is less than audacious and gives the impression that it was done in haste and it is a shame because 'The Clock' does look lovely everywhere else. Most of the photography is handsomely done, the production design elegant and atmospheric and really liked the fact that the city felt like a main character rather than just a city or a set. George Bassman's music score is lush without being over-bearing or too syrupy, while it will never be one of the greatest film scores it works within the film and complements the atmosphere well. The script avoids being overwrought and melodramatically soap-opera-like, dangers in romance films and that both those traps have been fallen into has hardly been unheard of. The story is full of charm and touching pathos, with an ending that wrenches the heart. Vincente Minnelli's direction is some of the most sensitive he's ever given and he clearly shows a love for Garland and a passion for the story. As wonderful a singer she was, anybody doubting Garland's acting ability (never have by the way) should look to her beguiling and poignant performance in 'The Clock' (as well as her best performance ever in 'A Star is Born') for a re-assessment. Walker similarly is a charming and sincere leading man, not only one of his better performances but to me his second best after his iconic Bruno Anthony in Hitchcock's 'Stranger on a Train'. Their chemistry is irresistibly beautiful, and it brings me to tears knowing that both met tragic ends so young. They are supported by a superb supporting cast, a sympathetic James Gleason and a very funny Marshall Thompson standing out. Not to mention Keenan Wynn as a very naturalistic and scarily realistic but entertaining drunk. Overall, great and moving film that should be better known. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Can you believe a Hollywood Rom/Com starring Judy Garland and she doesn't sing a single note in it!?... Well - Believe it - 'Cause she doesn't. Personally, I think that if Garland had been given a couple of ditties to twitter that certainly would've helped to liven things up and move things along in this corny'n'cute "boy-meets-girl" story from 1945. Mind you - There were some entertaining moments to enjoy in this happy/sad little tale. And, I especially liked the bum-note that this one's story ended on. (Yeah. I thought that it was a nice touch) "The Clock" was directed by Vincent Minnelli who would soon be romantically involved with Garland.

This is a gently lyrical parable of two people trying to find a quiet corner in their manic world in which to be alone and to fall in love. We are constantly aware of the barriers that make their ephemeral courtship unlikely, in both the cosmic sense (Minnelli's sudden crane shots or omniscient rejoinders to an intimate close-up, which make us all too aware that their moments are marked by something ineffable) and in the modern world (he's great at evoking the terror of losing your lover amid the swirl of vacant, anonymous faces). Whether critiquing bureaucracy—Alice and Joe have to go through a hell of an ordeal to obtain a marriage license—or simply the impossibility of getting lost in a moment in our fast-paced lives, the film stresses the importance of crafting independent rituals and moments of reverence. For instance, their marriage feels "ugly" and sterilely modern, until, once alone inside St. Peter's Cathedral, they read marriage vows to one another in tremulous whispers, signifying that theirs is a union both traditional and unique, sanctified to and by one another. And there is a really wonderful touch that Minnelli uses to close out this most important of scenes: cutting to a long deep-focus shot, in the foreground an acolyte methodically extinguishes the flames on the holy candelabra, obscuring their faces with the bell of his staff for several seconds—in effect a "wiping away" of this moment, and the religious closure of the altar-boy's ritual gesture, as if blessing their memory of this moment for posterity. It's very bittersweet on a metaphysical level, because these lovers may never see other again, once more imposed upon by the cruel fate of a massive human construct (WWII)—this is about finding love and happiness apart from the monotony of mass routine, finding a place of serenity in a place of chaos, where there seems no respite. I love how Minnelli emphasizes their guardedness to the world by playing up the fragilely diffident nature of their relationship. My favorite example comes as they're sharing a tender moment in a park, drawing ever nearer to one another, but as they see a stranger approach both curtly withdraw in unison. In that park, the music of the city sounds far enough away that they feel safe enough to embrace it. As they walk on contentedly, this moment, too, dissipates (Minnelli raises the view until we're in the trees, their bodies wiped away), and their night of happy accidents will continue, until they'll have nothing in common but memories.

As long as you don't think the plot through too much, this is a wonderful film. Logically speaking, normal and well-adjusted people do not meet a stranger and get married almost immediately as they did in this movie. But, this movie is a bit of a fantasy and if you ignore this, you will be rewarded by a charming love story set in WW2. Robert Walker is a soldier about to ship out and Judy Garland is the sweet young lady he meets. I think the reason it all worked out so well was that this was an MGM picture and the writing was top-notch. Lots of wonderful little scenes and excellent support throughout. I knew this was a special film because I don't usually like Judy Garland movies that much. Part of the reason I think I liked it so much more than many of her other films is that this is NOT a musical (I'm not a big one for musicals--just personal taste) and Ms. Garland shows she could indeed act!

A soldier (Robert Walker) on leave in NYC for 48 hours meets a female office worker (Judy Garland). They talk, fall in love, meet various characters and spend the whole movie together until he leaves. That's about it for the plot. I REALLY wanted to like this movie--but I couldn't. It's well-done (except for some truly dreadful background photography) and sort of interesting but.... The movie seems to be congratulating itself on showing these "ordinary" people and the colorful characters they meet. It came across as very calculated and phony to me. Garland is just great in a straight dramatic role and Walker is incredibly charming, but the other people they meet are annoying and tiredly eccentric. Also some of the dialogue between Walker and Garland is either boring or really stupid--not even remotely believable. Halfway through the movie I considered turning it off--it was just grating on my nerves. I'm giving this a 5 only for Garland, Walker and the beautiful production (it was all shot in California--believe it or not). That aside, it's pretty bad.

Very simple, yet engaging, "The Clock" makes use of some rather interesting casting, some slight but sincere characters, and a story that still works all right despite no longer having its original immediacy. Judy Garland and Robert Walker work surprisingly well as the lead couple, and James Gleason probably makes the picture with his scenes. The title is appropriate, both for its reference to the role of the station clock in the plot and also as something of a simple metaphor of the broader situation faced by the characters. Generally, the best reason for having Garland in the cast is for her singing, yet here she carries the role without using her best-known talent. By keeping the character simple but believable, it works all right. Whenever you see Walker, it's almost impossible not to think of "Strangers on a Train" (although, of course, that film came later), yet here he also succeeds with a very different, sensitive character. In contrast, Gleason plays exactly the kind of character role that he does best and most naturally, and it's hard to see the movie working without him. He comes along at just the right time to keep things from petering out, and his character seems to provide exactly what was needed to keep the story from getting off-track. Much of the movie is not especially memorable, and the production is unspectacular, though solid. Yet it's hard not to come away with a positive feeling from watching this simple yet pleasant and thoughtful film.

I hate movies like this, you know the ones that have one stellar element in the midst of garbage. First, the garbage. I love Judy Garland. I do, but here she is asked to fill a vessel so alien that I fear when watching her. We know she has a somewhat appealing figure only because of the heavy drugs she is addicted to. We know she can be photographed as a beauty by someone who is in love with her. But her romantic simpleton is so false, so full of effort and a will to please, it made me cry. The story is one of those things that is supposed to endear: war love, instant love, naturally fated love. When new, it would have been as natural a notion as flowing water. But after some ugly wars and loss of institutional pretense, the notion does seem ugly now. At the beginning, for instance is some supposed humor when the female roommate talks incessantly while the boyfriend repeatedly starts to say something. It actually offends. But if you can let all the suspicious smells hide under the excuse of innocence, there are some rewards. Though Minnelli abuses his future wife, he caresses the viewer with some wonderful camera compositions. The best ones, at least the most dramatic ones, have movement and/or overheads. Minnelli wasn't a giant in the art, but he did innovate in a few areas and he extended this notion of the curious eye. I'll ask you to watch this for one shot that will stick with you forever. Judy and her accidental beau find themselves delivering milk in Manhatten. One of the stops is at a fire station. The shot lasts less than a minute and took incredible setup. It starts on a metal-framed balcony, follows characters down a similar spiral stair and then across the firehouse proper to settle on some kittens lapping milk from a saucer. I rate my films as films, but an equally useful rating system would note the best scenes. This has almost nothing to do with the story and is short. But it will stick with you forever, and is even supported by the romance of the surrounding story. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

This was a low budget film which had relevance in 1945. It is not the magical love story it presumes to be but a travelogue of NYC. The actors do not appear to be two young people falling in love as it is supposed to appear to be. It is true they are young people but they don't come off as naive or immature. There is no depth of story or plot to attract interest. The movie didn't make that much money but it wasn't a flop either. These two actors could have done better in a another movie with an intriguing plot.