The Daily News Lobby

This is the lobby of the old New York Daily News building at 220 E. 42^nd Street in Manhattan. The globe revolved and was lit from beneath. The floor was made of marble in the form of a compass rose. The globe itself weighs almost 2 tons. The pit beneath it contains a mirror so that you can see Antarctica. Around the edge of the pit there is an inlaid floor which denotes the direction and distance to the major cities around the world. There are also a bunch of thermometers, barometers and wind speed indicators which held me captive as a boy.

The building was constructed between 1929 and 1930 in an L shape with a loading dock on one side. Being located on East 42^nd Street, only minutes from Times Square, allowed the News to get its paper’s on the streets more quickly than her competitors. Remember, in the 1930’s there were over 20 daily newspapers in New York City.

220 East 42nd Street is stilled referred to today as the Daily News Building, although the paper relocated to 33^rd Street in the 1990’s. But the lobby is still intact and the globe still spins continuously. By the way; when the building first opened it was noted that the globe was spinning the wrong way! It was corrected almost immediately. The globe makes a complete rotation in about 10 minutes; which is 144 times faster than the actual earth turns.

The lobby also boasted a news stand from which you could buy every major newspaper in the country, as well as the Paris edition of the Tribune. The walls held an abundance of clocks; each one telling the time in some other city; both in America and overseas. This was a place where a 12 year old boy could hang out and let his young imagination run wild. I know; I was that boy.

"The Big Clock" with Charles laughton, Ray Milland and Maureen O'Sullivan

This is one of the later movies classified as "film noir." Released in 1948 it represents a wonderful vehicle for Charles Laughton as the micro-managing editor of a major newspaper. In the lobby of the news building is a system of clocks that tell the time all over the world. It is representative of the value of time, as perceived by the newspapers editor Mr. Janoth (played by Charles Laughton). His star reporter, George Stroud (played by Ray Milland) has, on account of Mr. Janoth's work ethic, not been on vacation for several years. He is always pursuing some story, or even the hint of one, at the suggestion of his boss, Mr. Janoth. This is beginning to wear thin at home with Mrs. Stroud, who has thrown down the gauntlet. The train leaves at 6:30 sharp. She is going to go on vacation, with him, or without.

When Mr. Janoth assigns Mr. Stroud a lead on a very important news story, one that could lead to his being promoted, Stroud is almost sucked back in, risking his happiness at home. At the last moment he decides to quit. On the way to the station, and his wife, he decides to have a drink to celebrate his "freedom." At the bar he meets a woman who happens to be the mistress (played by Rita Johnson) of his former boss and has a grudge against him. After a few drinks Stroud has forgotten all about the time and is uproariously drunk. After carousing about town and being seen everywhere, she takes Stroud, who is now too inebriated to navigate on his own, home with her to "sleep it off" on her sofa. There is no romantic involvement, just circumstances.

When Mr. Janoth's mistress finds that the editor is on his way up to her apartment, she rouses the hapless Stroud from his slumber just in time for him to leave. But he has left behind the one thing that can potentially identify him; a sundial with a green ribbon that the two took from a bar.

Mr. Janoth arrives and proceeds to have a fierce argument with his mistress. Words are said, and in a moment of rage Mr. Janoth uses the sundial to bludgeon his mistress to death. He then flees, leaving the murder weapon behind.

Aided by his most loyal minion, Steve Hagen,(played by George Macready) the race is on to find a fictious killer, and at the same time use the story as a vehicle to boost the paper's sales. In the meantime, our hapless reporter, Mr. Stroud, has re-united with his wife and child, and beginning his long overdue vacation. Then the phone rings.

Mr. Janoth, who is desperate to pin his crime on someone else, cajoles his star reporter into returning from vacation, to solve the mystery and boost the paper's sales. Although Stroud does not wish to leave his wife he realizes the necessity of micro-managing the investigation. The irony here is that he is now doing exactly what he despises about his boss, manipulating people for his own purposes.

With an outstanding appearance by Elsa Lanchester as a witness,(she also happened to be married to Mr. Laughton in real life and appeared in several films with him) she plays a struggling artist who has seen the alledged killer in an antique store on the night of the murder and in the company of Mr. Janoth's mistress.

As the clocks in the lobby tick the time away, the noose tightens, threatening to ensnare Stroud in a trap not of his own making. With a tightly written script and the wonderful Direction of John Farrow, this movie will keep the viewer riveted until the final conclusions are drawn.

A landmark film, set in the New York of the late 1940's, this film was remade as "No Way Out" in 1989 with Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. They play a military officer (Costner) who is having an affair with a Senator's (Hackman) mistress. Both films are well made, but for my money I'll take Ray Milland and Charles Laughton in this exciting piece of film noir.