Noir City Double Feature: The Big Clock and Moonrise

Live Introductions by Eddie Muller of TCM and the Film Noir Foundation.

The Big Clock. 1948, Paramount. 95 minutes. Director John Farrow

Noir City Detroit’s tribute to film noir in 1948 concludes with this killer double feature. George Stroud (Ray Milland), editor of Crimeways, America’s most popular true-crime magazine, finds himself the prime suspect in the murder of his publisher’s mistress, with whom he’s just shared a day-drinking dalliance. There’s an undeniable thrill in watching Stroud talk his way out of the noose, only to have it reapplied to his neck and tightened in the very next scene. Digital presentation.

Moonrise. 1948, Republic 90 minutes. Director Frank Borzage

Relentlessly romantic optimist Frank Borzage is the last director you'd expect to turn out an effective film noir, but this brilliantly directed drama was his sound-era masterpiece. Dane Clark gives a bruised and brooding performance as a young man convinced that his father's "bad blood" has sealed his miserable fate. Can he be saved by the love of angelic Gail Russell? Borzage lets the question linger throughout and ruminates on humanity’s worst tendencies with stretches of unencumbered visual brilliance. 35mm film print.