Movies Like The Big Clock (1948)

The Big Clock is a 1948 crime, thriller film from John Farrow with a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Lady on a Train and Devil in a Blue Dress.

Crime Thriller

Lady on a Train

1945

While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime on her own, but her sleuthing attracts the attentions of suitors and killers.

6.6

MagicScore

Devil in a Blue Dress

1995

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

6.5

MagicScore

Dishonored Lady

1947

Art editor Madeleine Damian carries on numerous loveless affairs. After a failed relationship with advertiser Felix Courtland, the increasingly depressed Madeleine attempts suicide. When Jack Garet, her secretary and former lover, tries to blackmail her, Madeleine resigns and seeks a reclusive life. Neighbor David Cousins befriends Madeleine, but soon Courtland and Garet discover her whereabouts and disrupt her new life.

5.7

MagicScore

Swimming Pool

2003

A British crime novelist travels to her publisher's upmarket summer house in Southern France to seek solitude in order to work on her next book. However, the unexpected arrival of the publisher's daughter induces complications and a subsequent crime.

6.5

MagicScore

Wife vs. Secretary

1936

Linda, the wife of a publishing executive, suspects that her husband Van’s relationship with his attractive secretary Whitey is more than professional.

6.7

MagicScore

The Naked Truth

1957

Nigel Dennis publishes a scandal magazine. But for each story he writes, he first approaches the person whose scandalous behavior is described (or rather implied, to avoid any libel suit) and says he will suppress the story in return for money. Several of his victims first decide individually to kill him instead of paying, but fail in amusing ways. Then they find that to protect their various secrets they must now join forces for a rather different purpose...

6.6

MagicScore

Gentleman's Agreement

1947

A magazine writer poses as a Jew to expose anti-Semitism.

7.0

MagicScore

The Stranger

1946

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of a distinguished professor engaged to the Supreme Court Justice’s daughter.

7.2

MagicScore

The Naked City

1948

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

7.2

MagicScore

#10

Blast of Silence

1961

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.

7.0

MagicScore

#11

The Window

1949

An imaginative boy who frequently makes things up witnesses a murder, but can't get his parents or the police to believe him. The only people taking him seriously are the killers - who live upstairs, know that he saw what they did, and are out to permanently silence him.

6.9

MagicScore

#12

Dial M for Murder

1954

When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.

8.0

MagicScore

#13

The Mad Magician

1954

Don Gallico is an inventor of stage magic effects who aspires to become a star in his own right. Just before his first performance his act is shut down by capricious manager Ross Ormond who wants Gallico's brilliant buzz saw effect for the act of The Great Rinaldi, an established star. With this defeat, and the humiliation of having already lost his wife Claire to Ormond, Gallico decides it is time to take matters into his own hands.

6.9

MagicScore

#14

Street Smart

1987

A New York journalist lies when his fake story about a pimp describes a real pimp up for murder.

5.9

MagicScore

#15

Scarlet Street

1945

Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find out that art dealers are interested in Chris's work, they con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings. Cross allows it because he is in love with Kitty, but his love will only let her get away with so much.

7.6

MagicScore

#16

Street of Chance

1942

In this Cornell Woolrich thriller, a man's memory is recovered after being injured by falling construction material. Discovering a year-long lapse, he returns to his old life and discovers a lot of mysterious happenings.

5.3

MagicScore

#17

The Beast Must Die

1952

A crime writer searching for the truth about a personal tragedy becomes involved in a murder investigation.

7.1

MagicScore

#18

Hammett

1982

Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.

6.2

MagicScore

#19

The Seventh Victim

1943

After young Mary Gibson discovers that her older sister Jacqueline has disappeared, she leaves her boarding school and heads to New York City to track down her sibling. But Mary gets drawn deeper into the mystery.

6.5

MagicScore

#20

The Night of the Hunter

1955

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

7.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Big Clock?

The top films similar to The Big Clock by MovieMagicScore are Lady on a Train (6.6), Devil in a Blue Dress (6.5), Dishonored Lady (5.7). Each shares crime/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Big Clock worth watching?

The Big Clock holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.3/10 from 171 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Big Clock?

The Big Clock (1948) is a crime, thriller film directed by John Farrow, starring Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Big Clock?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more crime recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Lady on a Train Movies like Devil in a Blue Dress Movies like Dishonored Lady Movies like Swimming Pool Movies like Wife vs. Secretary Movies like The Naked Truth

About movies like The Big Clock

This ranked list pairs The Big Clock (1948), a crime and thriller film from John Farrow, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Ray Milland take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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