L'ora di New York

Two tragic, wonderful performers, Robert Walker and Judy Garland, star as a soldier and the girl he meets in "The Clock," a wartime love story also starring James Gleason, Lucille Gleason, Ruth Brady, Marshall Thompson, and Keenan Wynn.

Joe (Walker), on leave before he ships out, is in the big city when he meets Alice (Garland) as the heel falls off of her shoe on an escalator. His charm and enthusiasm soon overcome her, and before she knows it, she's agreed to spend time with him. They embark on an adventure which takes them to the museum and Central Park, where they meet milkman Gleason and end up delivering his products when he is accidentally knocked in the face by a drunk (Keenan Wynn) in a coffee shop. When day dawns, Alice and Joe come to a realization.

This is a frenetic, high-energy movie, beautifully orchestrated by Vincente Minnelli, who manages to keep the tender love story in focus as the couple dashes around New York, losing one another, finding one another, doing a milk run, the pace picking up and becoming even more frantic as they race against the clock towards the end of the film. Then it all stops, and there is calmness and silence as "The Clock" draws to a close.

The clock is a symbol of the limited time they have together, and a symbol of their meeting place - under the clock at the Astor Hotel - and where they find one another after one makes it on the subway and the other doesn't. It's a haunting symbol as Minnelli vividly paints a New York atmosphere with its crowds and bustling with the underpinning of World War II. And imagine - you could go into Central Park at night in the '40s and come out alive.

Judy Garland, in the same studio as Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, and many other beauties, probably never appreciated what made her beautiful. In "The Clock," "The Pirate," and "Meet Me in St. Louis," she is at her loveliest, slender and luminous with enormous eyes and a sweet, girlish, vulnerable quality. Walker, who would be bloated and dead six years after this film's release, was doubtless still reeling from problems in his private life when he made this film, but he is handsome, deft with a line, and brimming with youth. He and Garland make a wonderful couple.

It's sad to think about what happened to these actors, but one is confident about the characters in "The Clock." Released in 1945, the war would soon be over, and Garland's ending monologue (originally to be said by Walker) rings true. "Whoever is making the arrangements is doing pretty well by us," she says. Too bad it wasn't the same for them in real life.

This film gives Judy Garland a chance (her first, I think?) to appear in a non-singing role, as Alice Mayberry, a hopeless romantic who works in New York. When she meets soldier Joe Allen (Robert Walker) they fall deeply in love with each other and are soon beating a path to the altar.

As a war-based romance, this story moves fast because it has to - in a matter of days Alice and Joe know they belong together, and we know it too, thanks to the scenes we see in the museum, in the park away from the bustling traffic, and within the railway station. Garland and Walker are both excellent, the perfect representations of dewy-eyed young lovers.

We're not disappointed by the little roles, either - James and Lucille Gleason play a friendly milkman and his wife, Keenan Wynn plays a drunk in a diner, Ruth Brady plays Alice's housemate Ruth, and Marshall Thompson gathers many laughs all to himself as Ruth's silent boyfriend Bill, never allowed to say anything in response to her constant questioning, gossiping, and nagging.

Directed by Garland's husband Vincente Minnelli, 'The Clock' is a quiet and lovely film, not often quoted as one of the greats, but a good example of the best entertainment MGM could offer in the 1940s.

It is, in a word, breathtaking. What I especially love is the duality of Robert Walker and Judy Garland: they are both simple, lonely souls who literally stumble over each other one day then get repeatedly teamed up in a series of seemingly innocent adventures (they ride a double decker bus; she shows him Central Park; he shows her an art museum)- each time attempting to part company but continuing to draw towards each other. When you analyze it, their courtship is almost fantastic, but the time of the film's 1945 release more than allows for the magic of budding romance. It is not really a sugary film; all the while the two leads communicate, you can see the improbability of their situation on their faces. When a milkman rescues them from being stranded at the end of a long date- and they wind up doing his milk route- they burst out laughing at their situation. It makes a later scene of a subway separation particularly heartbreaking, and its later reunion at a train depot breathtaking (I guarantee tears in your eyes)- and that's sort of what the movie's all about. In retrospect, it's a bit ironic to watch the young sweetness of Walker and Garland- two stars who had tragic, frequently unhappy existences. Their chemistry here as strangers who become friends who fall in love is mesmerizing. Ms. Garland does not sing, but her dark, exquisite eyes are music to the camera lens. Several bios have cited this film and MEET ME IN ST LOUIS as the two movies which captured Ms. Garland at her most beautiful, and I suspect that has something to do with the taste and artistry of the director- who was in love with (and would soon marry) his star. Grab immediately.

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

New York during WWII is at the center of this film. It was an era of innocence in the Big Apple. Despite the war being fought overseas, young servicemen came for some serious r&r before going to the front, and perhaps, to an imminent death. It is in this setting where we first meet the protagonists of this charming film that has to be one of the best films about the subject ever brought to the screen.

Judy Garland, a rising star at MGM was a singing sensation. That is why her appearance as Alice Newberry showed audiences her acting range. Ms. Garland was a charismatic woman who proved to be the right choice to play this adorable young secretary who meets an unknown G.I. and falls in love with him during a short stay in New York. Joe Allen, an inexperienced young man feels lost as he emerges to face the crowds. Inevitably, Joe and Alice were meant to meet. They fall into an easy relationship that will lead into Joe asking Alice to marry him.

Judy Garland is marvelous as Alice. She shows an uncanny sense for doing something that seemed to come naturally. She lights up the screen throughout the film. Robert Walker, with his good looks, is also an asset as the confused Army man who doesn't know the ins and outs of living in the big city. James Gleason, a character actor of many films, also appears as a friendly milkman who befriends the couple as they emerge from the park. In a way, the film shows how naive people were during those days. Now, they wouldn't be caught dead in the park at night.

Vincent Minnelli directed with a sure hand. It shows in the finished product. This is one of the epitomes of what a romantic movie was all about.