MovieChat Forums > The Big Clock (1948) Discussion > Harry Morgan as a thug.

Harry Morgan as a thug.

posted 15 years ago by RugGuy
7 replies | jump to latest

His performance impressed me. Even tho he was short and I have had 50 years of seeing him as a lovable mug he was very menacing.

[–] AliciaHuberman59 15 years ago

I quite agree, RugGuy. Gave me the willies, although he didn't speak one word of dialogue, except for the brief conversation he had (behind a glass windowed door...so we couldn't actually hear him) with some of Jannoth's security guards/private police.

[–] SealordJohn 14 years ago

I don't recall ever seeing a character spend so much time on camera, including zoomed in single shots, and have so little dialogue to recite.
And as has been mentioned before, he seemed so out of character, at least the Harry Morgan I'm used to seeing on television.

[–] roximunro 14 years ago

I was just watching the movie on TCM too and I knew Morgan could play serious, from watching reruns of his time on Dragnet, but I didn't realize how well he was at playing a 'heavy'.
Hawkeye and B.J. would have gotten away with a lot less if they had known. lol

[–] LTUM 13 years ago

i thought he had a really menacing air about him. very much so

but i gotta say i was taken aback at how short he was. he musta had it written into his contracts later on that the camera angles be set a certain way to conceal his short height (i mean once became more successful and could get away with making demands like that)

but that's just a guess on my part.

but golly i didn't know he was that short. he was nearly the size of a dwarf, for real!

still played a scary dude though. and he still looked very tough and mean

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2dKNeLqNas

[–] nutsberryfarm 10 years ago

dwarf thug! 

🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴

[–] AvaSinatra59 (195) 5 years ago

That year he played an affable neighbor in "All My Sons". The year before, a glib, would-be-womanizer soda jerk in "The Gangster". Saw "The Big Clock" again this weekend and he is truly scary.

[–] liscarkat (19418) 3 years ago

He was menacing, a sort of psychopathic monster completely controlled by Janoth. The fact that he lurked but never spoke made the character even more creepy.