The Pay-Off (1930) User Reviews

Debonair Lowell Sherman keeps you interested

[kidboots · 6/10 · 12 August 2008]

Tommy and Nancy are "spooning" in the park, and dreaming of getting married on their savings of $260. Nancy is played by Marian Nixon,

a versatile actress, who specialised in "sweet young things". Tommy was played by William Janney, who I suspect was the older brother of Leon Janney, who made a couple of Penrod films in the early 1930s. They play their roles convincingly.

They are overheard by Rocky (Hugh Trevor) who robs them. He is the right hand man of racketeer Gene Fenmore (Lowell Sherman). Gene is a "Robin Hood" as he steals from unscrupulous people and never resorts to any rough stuff or gun play. He is very classy but Rocky wants to run the show. Tommy and Nancy follow Rocky and attempt to hold up Gene and Rocky. After getting to the bottom of things Gene takes them under his wing. Nancy thinks Gene is a good person but Tommy is not so sure.

A bit of cross promotion - the dance music at the night club is a selection from "The Cuckoos" which starred Hugh Trevor.

The gang is planning a big job but as usual Gene wants no bloodshed. Rocky is determined to implicate Tommy as he has never forgiven him for the "phoney" stick-up. The jeweller is killed and when Gene and Rocky confront each other Rocky is killed. The other gang members, who are fed up with Gene's "gentlemanly" ways believe Gene cold bloodedly murdered Rocky. The police have been trying to capture Gene for years and by arresting "the kids" they hope to appeal to his better nature.

Debonair Lowell Sherman is the whole show, although Hugh Trevor shows that he could have been a big star. Hugh Trevor was very handsome, could sing and had such a presence in this film. He had been a hit in "The Cuckoos" (1930) and "Half Shot at Sunrise" (1930) but he left films in 1931 to go back into the insurance business. He was still getting movie offers right up to his untimely death in 1933.

"Squeeze Me": That's About as Erotic as it Gets

[lawprof · 5/10 · 30 June 2004]

Another Alpha Video $4.99 DVD bringing a forgotten pre-WWII second (or third?) matinee feature to the DVD player.

A young couple sits in a faux Central Park late at night contemplating their marriage the next day. Fortunately the lad has saved $260 towards their life together. But a real nasty bad guy overhears them and holds them up taking every dime.

But...the almost groom recognizes the creep as a guy who hangs out in the building where he's a super's schlepper (that's NYC talk). So he and fiancee attempt to regain the money by armed robbery and blow it. They're captured by the gang.

The gang, which does high values burglaries and robberies, is headed by a suave guy, Gene Foreman, played actually with some insight by Lowell Sherman who was at the tail end of his acting career. Perhaps he knew that: he seems genuinely sad throughout the film.

Foreman eschews violence-he's a dapper dan in tails who gets leads to promising heists through wining and dining the rich. Foreman sort of adopts the young couple and the girl really likes him. Her boyfriend worries about losing this gem who intones "squeeze me" whenever she's scared, needs affectionate reassurance or both.

The really nasty dude, Rocky, is murdered and the couple are the suspects. Foreman magnificently rises to the occasion, his acting transcending the limitations of predictable plot, sets less realistic than those on "The Honeymooners" and a supporting cast of deservedly unknowns.

Fun flick from the past.

5/10

Lowell Sherman Makes Crime Pay

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 24 October 2014]

On an early morning in New York City, school-boyish 20-year-old William Janney (as Thomas "Tommy" Brown) and his mature-looking 18-year-old girlfriend Marian Nixon (as Nancy Porter) wake up on a park bench. The cute couple are planning to get married on the $230 Mr. Janney has saved. Unfortunately, thieving Hugh Trevor (as Rocky) walks by and hears them talk about the money. He robs Janney. Later, the victims return the favor by finding Mr. Trevor and his gang. As it turns out, Janney works at the hotel where Trevor and his shady pals play cards. Janney's attempt to hold-up the gang fails, but gang leader Lowell Sherman (as Eugene "Gene" Fenmore) admires the effort. He takes a fatherly interest in Janney and could become even more interested in Ms. Nixon...

"The Pay-Off" is a film adaptation of the Broadway play "Crime" (1927), written by Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymer. The too common title was changed, appropriately. Also changed was the name of the young teenager debuting on Broadway; future film actress Sylvia Sidney's character "Annabelle" becoming "Nancy". The film has a very stagy look, and the writers' names in the Internet Broadway Database's search engine will reveal the origin. As such, it's a good effort, also directed by Mr. Sherman. The former "silent" movie villain serves himself well as star and director. Age on stage matters less; here, Gimbels worker Nixon seems too girlish and Janney is not far behind. As Sherman's understanding servant and friend, authentic character actor George F. Marion helps.

***** The Pay-Off (10/15/30) Lowell Sherman ~ Lowell Sherman, William Janney, Marian Nixon, Hugh Trevor

Lowell Sherman and Hugh Trevor!

[drednm · 30 August 2005]

Stagy and a little disappointing but an interesting story, and the film boasts Lowell Sherman--a very underrated actor/director. A film star for 20 years, he is forgotten now, but his great talkie success, What Price Hollywood, is still considered one of the best 30s films.

In The Pay-Off, Sherman plays a gentlemanly gangster who gets involved with a young couple of innocents--William Janney and Marian Nixon--who get involved in his crime ring when they get mugged my a "butcher" played by hunky Hugh Trevor. While the premise is interesting, the film is not too well done and it talks itself to death.

The ending is no big surprise, but Lowell Sherman remains one of the great undiscovered acting talents of the early talkie period. Despite his make-up (very stagy) his acting is very natural and not at all the hammy early talkie style.

George Marion plays Mousy, Helene Millard is Dot, Robert McWade and Al Roscoe also co-star.

Hugh Trevor, who died a few years after this film, is best remembered for 2 comedies with Wheeler and Woolsey--The Cuckoos and Half Shot at Sunrise. He could have been a big star--tall and handsome--but he died on the operating table during a routine appendectomy.

Upper class gangsters utilize society for their organized crime racket.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 22 February 2014]

There is something very John Barrymore-ish about Lowell Sherman, the middle-aged star of this movie who later played a Barrymore like star in "What Price Hollywood". It is ironic that in real life, they were once married to the Costello sisters and would co-star together in one movie, "General Crack". Sherman seems to be taking on a Barrymore persona here as the suave head of a racket of jewel thieves. He ain't no Ronald Colman of "Raffles" or William Powell of "Jewel Robbery", but a slightly portly lothario who seems to have forgotten that he's past the era of seducing young girls and taking them away from their same-aged boyfriends, which he attempts to do here with Marian Nixon and her fiancée, William Janney.

"If it wasn't for men like me, there wouldn't be a necessity for men like you", he tells a detective out to bust up his racket, and you know he's dead serious. Even if he runs a seemingly legitimate nightclub, frequented by the well-dressed social set, he's uncontent in his lot, and continues to knock off jewelry shops when the right moment comes along. Hugh Trevor is the handsome but rather amoral pal who goes too far in Sherman's eyes when he robs the struggling Janney right after Nixon has agreed to marry him. This puts Sherman into a sort of George Arliss style plot; He takes the down on their luck lovers into his home, yet plans to steal Nixon for himself until Trevor takes matters into his own hands to get revenge for being humiliated by being exposed for what he claims was just a practical joke.

Slightly creaky and extremely stagy, this early talkie crime drama with elements of drawing room comedy manages to entertain in spite of its constant shift in moods. It certainly isn't a rival to the big crime dramas of the time ("Little Cesar", "Public Enemy", "Scarface") yet isn't without merit. Sherman also directs this film which he would do for a few later films he starred in, which brings into question the man's ego, one seemingly as huge as Barrymore's yet without that unforgettable profile and over-sized personality.

71 minutes of a filmed stage play

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 2 December 2013]

For his second feature as an actor-director, Lowell Sherman hogs the limelight in the very stagily written, directed, acted, photographed and set, The Pay-Off. Based on a stage play which never made Broadway, little has been done to open it out for the screen. However, director Sherman has an advantage over the rest of the cast which be exploits to the hilt, hogging the camera unmercifully even when he is seated in a two-shot or a grouping of four or five. He also uses his penetrating voice to draw the audience's full attention his way and is the only actor to use such a generous amount of black-ringed eye make-up on his pancake-powdered face, so that you and I can easily pick him out in a crowd. The other players do what they can to upstage actor Sherman, but as he was also the director, they face a losing battle. I can't even remember what the chief villain looks like, but have no trouble recalling Sherman's image. I also remember Marian Nixon, who was one of the very few silent stars who had no trouble at all converting to sound, although she did retire after making her 73rd movie in 1936, after marrying director William A. Seiter in 1934. After Seiter died in 1964, she married Ben Lyon (of all people) in 1971. This was certainly news to me. I grew up with Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels and when Bebe was forced to abandon "Life with the Lyons" for health reasons, the nation went into shock. So Ben returned to the U.S.A. and married Marian Nixon? The things you find out on IMDb! Anyway, getting back to the stagily directed "Pay-Off", it does admittedly hold the interest for its 71 minutes, despite Sherman's constant on-camera thesping. The only time he relaxes and throws a bit of meat to a fellow thespian occurs when he shares a scene with George Marion. Available on a very good Alpha DVD.

"I caught an arm, I caught a leg, but what I wanted was your neck".

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 16 October 2010]

Unbelievable and convoluted story elements make this a tough one to struggle through. It looks like I might be in the minority on this board, but I don't see a lot here to recommend the picture. Lowell Sherman provides about the only competence the film offers in his portrayal of crime boss Gene Fenmore. He has a great comeback to would be challenger Rocky (Hugh Trevor) for kingpin status - 'jealousy implies equality'. That's the way to put a guy in his place, and I think Rocky pretty much knew it too.

As for the young couple at the heart of the story (Marian Nixon and William Janney), how clueless would you have to be to try and rob some high rollers in their own apartment? OK, they were trying to get their own money back, but Tommy (Janney) recognized the goon who robbed him, so why not just go to the cops? On second thought, that didn't always work out in these era stories either. Especially with an idiot District Attorney like the one here.

With the old lights out trick used not once, but twice in the story, this one sort of muddles along until it finally peters out with Fenmore's confession. Which sort of defies credibility, because even though he was ultimately behind the jewel store robbery, a good lawyer would have gotten him off scot free with the inept Rocky calling the shots. But then again, he shot Rocky with no witnesses, even if it was self defense. Like Rocky said - "You can't be in this racket and have a code of ethics".

Mildly interesting when it should have been better...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 9 January 2014]

This film begins with New York's stupidest couple (Hugh Trevor and Marian Nixon) falling asleep on a park bench. When a cop wakes them, it's the middle of the night. Now you'd THINK a sane couple would immediately leave the park. Instead, dopey Rocky begins talking rather loudly and imprudently about the $200 plus that he's carrying on him!! It's really hard to believe anyone could be that dumb--and this is clearly a sign of poor writing. Not surprisingly, a thug overhears them and robs the young couple.

Now if this happened to you, what would you do? Well, these rocket scientists decide to don masks and hold up a group of crooks to get the money they were saving in order to get married!! The plan, naturally, backfires and the big boss-man, Gene Fenmore (Lowell Sherman) feels sorry for them and takes him under his wing. They do not realize he's the local mob leader and think he's just a swell guy. At first, their good fortune seems assured but later Fenmore's shady dealings end up getting the couple arrested for a crime they didn't commit. So what's next? The only reason to watch this film is to watch Sherman. He was a fine actor and very few of his films are seen today. He had a very likable and natural style and "The Pay-Off" is no exception. Unfortunately, the film is full of silly writing and a decent idea for a film is squandered. Not great but still very watchable despite its many deficits.

Nothing Special - Mundane Film

[Rainey-Dawn · 2/10 · 15 May 2016]

There are several crime dramas from the 1930s to chose from and this one is below average to me. If you want a good crime film from the 1930s you'll have to look elsewhere. This "drama" has it's "cutesy" moments with the wife and once in awhile the men so it's a cutesy drama at times - yea it's "one of those" you see fairly often from the 1930s.

I found the story bland, the acting merely okay, cinematography and directing average. Really, look elsewhere for a GOOD crime drama from the 1930s - this one is very mundane, nothing special - doesn't have what it takes to really stand out from other films. Not a hidden gem.

This is another film I wanted to like, or at least get into to a degree but I couldn't. Bored me to tears.

2/10

Pay Off short changes.

[st-shot · 5/10 · 17 October 2020]

Lowell Sherman offers up a more refined gang kingpin of the era in Payoff. Sophisticated, tasteful and the direct opposite of contemporary thugs Cagney and Robinson he rules with brains and not brawn. His success as a thief he believes is in leaving violence and bloodshed out of the equation. When an underling makes his move and resorts to brutality his empire begins to crumble.

Directed as well as having the lead Sherman aquits himself marginally in both in this decently paced, lushly designed in art deco offbeat mobster flick. The dialog is trite however, displaying an obsession with the word "gat" (gun) and simply falls apart around the moronic supporting performance of Tommy by William Janney who mars the whole picture in more than one pivotal scene with his over the top gullible hayseed delivery. Marian Nixon ably assists in the cloying department. Pay Off comes up a few bucks short.

Great early talkie that shows off the brilliance of Lowell Sherman

[rebel_sgeezy89 · 8/10 · 21 May 2020]

Lowell Sherman was a very versatile man in the world of early film. He was successful in both silents and talkies. He could play a dastardly heel (Sanderson in Way Down East) as well as a good hearted man, as seen in this film. He could act, direct, or both, as he does in The Pay-Off. There were a few issues with the film, mainly due to it being from 1930 - the dialogue is sometimes fuzzy and tough to hear, and at some points, some of the actors overact, as was typical for an early talkie. Still, the film is very good for a 1930 talkie. Sherman's performance is magnificent, as his acting seems as natural as can be, as though he'd been making talkies for years. The film is just over an hour and moves at a quick pace to keep the viewer interested. There's a mix of older and younger actors in the film, and as a whole, the acting is pretty good. Overall the film is an 8/10 and definitely worth watching.

Not Much of a Pay-Off

[mateox · 3/10 · 25 January 2010]

This early RKO Radio talkie begins with a scene introducing two incredibly naive juveniles whose unfortunate task is to present the exposition via some of the most obvious dialogue imaginable. Later scenes reveal better dialogue and acting, especially from director Lowell Sherman, a Broadway veteran whose polished, dandified, debonair character uses his big eyes to punctuate his lines. It's all unbelievable and frightfully innocent, but there's some good fun to be had. The women's frocks are particularly unfortunate. But Sherman's performance saves this from being a complete throw-a-way. His performance reminds one of Warner Baxter or William Powell.

The film is based on the play CRIME by Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymer. It had a good run of 186 performances at the Eltinge Theatre in New York from February to August 1927. Among the cast were Sylvia Sidney as Annabelle and Chester Morris as Rocky. In 1938, Morris starred in a new film version called LAW OF THE UNDERWORLD essaying the role of Gene Fillmore (Fenmore in the play and first film version).

Good Acting

[sbibb1 · 18 July 2004]

This film tells the story of an well bred and mannered man (Lowell Sherman) who happens to be the boss of an underworld racket. When one of his henchmen robs a young couple about to get married, he feels sorry for them and takes them in as his family, only to have other henchmen in his crime unit make them stooges in robberies.

An early sound film (1930) directed by Lowell Sherman, the stand out performance here is by Sherman himself. He has a very natural and easy going style of acting, making me curious to see other films in which he starred. The plot of the film, though not very believable, still makes for interesting viewing.

A delightful classic staring Lowell Sherman.

[donahue-1 · 9/10 · 2 August 2014]

Please ignore the CGI Generation Comments – because – if you love silent films and early talkies – you'll love this.

If this film does have a fault – it lies in the film's not being quite able to make up its mind whether to be one of those wonderful screwball comedies of the 30's – or – something a bit more serious.

Watching actors/actresses who had survived the transition to talking films is always fascinating to me – and – we had our share here – with – Lowell Sherman being both actor and director.

The plot is simple and straightforward – as it should be – without becoming overly melodramatic or silly. Had the direction moved in either direction toward a screwball comedy – or – a drama – (perhaps) – the film might have been a tad bit better – but – all-in-all – it did manage to strike a nice balance between the two.

Some wonderful actors – many forgotten names – many of whom died young.

Not the type of film that will tug at your heartstrings – but – an enjoyable film none-the-less.

Highly recommend for old film buffs.

Entertaining For What It Is

[Michael_Elliott · 23 January 2016]

The Pay-Off (1930)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Young lovers (Marian Nixon, William Janney) run off to get married but while talking about the money they have saved, they're robbed by a thug (Hugh Trevor) who happens to be working under gangster Gene Fenmore (Lowell Sherman). Soon the two young ones attempt to hold up the gangsters and finding their effort good, Gene takes both of them under his wing to try and give them a better life.

THE PAY-OFF is another one of those early talking pictures that deal with love, gangsters and of course a morality tale. The film certainly isn't a masterpiece or even very good but if you're a fan of this era of filmmaking then it's certainly worth watching at least once thanks to a decent story and a nice leading performance by Sherman.

At just 71 minutes the film moves at a very good pace and for the most part it keeps you entertained throughout. The film does have some weak performances scattered throughout and that includes Trevor who comes across quite laughable at times. This is especially true during the scene where him and his girlfriend hold up the gangsters. The film also suffers from some pretty far-fetched, overly-cute moments that don't help anything.

I thought Sherman was quite good in the lead role and that he was also very believable in the part of a gangster who tries to do things with the human life being respected. THE PAY-OFF is worth watching if you're a fan of films from this era but just don't expect a masterpiece.

"Good Guy" Lowell Sherman makes a noble sacrifice

[tmpj · 20 May 2002]

The film is interesting more on account of its vintage than its plot. The acting is campy,stagey, hammy. The idea that a bunch of rowdies pillage and rob with no guns and no killings was probably just as absurd then as it seems today. However, this was likely the last appearance for Lowell Sherman in front of the camera. His style of acting seems to have become obsolete with the advent of talkies,possibly before. I am not certain who plays the role of Nancy. Incidentally, this film was remade a couple of years after Sherman's death with Richard Dix and an oily, villainous Eduardo Cianelli. That one was better, but even the acting and slightly better tech weren't enough to salvage the much outdated script and concept. However, if you just dig old celluloid, as I do, it's a worthwhile watch.

30's Programmer

[dougdoepke · 18 June 2018]

Catch that brief nightclub scene where the party-goers empty their flasks as the cops charge through. Yup, it's still Prohibition, 1930, though illegal booze doesn't figure in the plot. Instead, it's gangster Fenmore finding out just how much bad guy he is. That's courtesy the youthful innocents Nancy and Tommy who get implicated in his shenanigans. All in all, it's a tepid 65-minutes, without much suspense. Mainly, actor-director Sherman gets to show his skills in what amounts to more of a character study than a crime drama. Note how expressively Sherman uses his eyes to convey what's going on inside. It's really his showcase. I was also impressed by an unknown (to me) Hugh Trevor as tough guy Rocky. Too bad he had such a brief career. And what about plug-ugly George Marion as Mouse. Facially, he resembles Wallace Beery on a really bad day. Here, the cast outshines the plot.

Since talkies are still fairly new, scenes are pretty much confined to indoor sets, though some like the mansion living room are striking. I guess my only real gripe is why they had to make the two kids so sweetly innocent. They fairly drip sugar. Anyway, the film amounts to a programmer, 1930's style, and not much more.