AniInterview
Sorry, this movie sucks
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
MartinHafer
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.
JohnHowardReid
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.
kidboots
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.
tmpj
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.
