The Clock 1945

     Soldier Joe Allen is on a two-day leave (48 hours) in New York.  He meets Alice and she agrees to show him the sights.  They spend the day together and they find themselves falling in love.  They decide to get married before Joe must to return to camp.

     In the beginning, there is a wonderful panorama of New York City as it was in the spring of 1945.  Once the couple meet, they are together almost constantly excepts for some glitches.  They visit various landmarks and attractions in New York like regular tourists. Alice has an apartment but she goes back there alone and she talks to her girlfriend roommate.  Her roommate tells her that she shouldn’t fool with military guys??  They will tell you anything!!  Some people have found this film boring?  This is what people wanted to see because during this period because they were war-weary!!  They were tired of blood, guts and strict rationing!! 

    

90 min Drama directed by Vincente Minnelli, Fred Zinnemann with Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, Lucile Gleason, Ruth Brady, E.J. Schwartz.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 100% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 4* average user rating 4.7* out of 5*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 79 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Holly wood, Los Angeles and Culver City, California.  Real footage of Pennsylvania Station was used for this film. The scene between Judy Garland and Robert Walker was filmed on a recreation at an MGM sound stage.  Alice loses her shoe heel on an escalator in Penn Station.  It isn't a real escalator and it has unusually high sides to disguise the fact that it wasn’t real.  This film, Judgment at Nuremberg of 1961 and A Child is Waiting 1963 are July Garland’s only non-singing movies.  Milkman Al Henry gives Joe and Alice a lift in his milk truck.  He doesn’t bother to look at the road for a full 24 seconds!!  MGM paid $50,000 for the rights to the original story.  The budget was estimated at $1,324,000 and the gross was $2,783,000.  During WWII, it was extremely difficult to get hotel reservations.  The couple is shown in a nice hotel room but in reality a soldier was probably booked at the YMCA.  Lux Radio Theater broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation on January 28, 1946 with Judy Garland reprising her film role.  Judy Garland was born June 10, 1922 and she died June 22, 1969.  The film was released in May of 1945 and she was 23 the next month.  She was married to Director Minnelli from June 15, 1945 to March 29, 1951.  They had one child Liza May born in 1946.  Robert Walker was recently divorced from Jennifer Jones prior to filming.