Law of the Underworld

... as "The Pay-Off" starring Lowell Sherman in which his usual insouciant persona was tempered by the dark purposes of crime and murder.

Two young people - Tommy and Annabelle - are planning to marry soon. So of course they flash their wad of cash - 136 dollars - to the point that a couple of hoods rob them at gunpoint. The hoods don't even bother to hide their faces, so Tommy recognizes one of the hoods and figures out where their hideout is. Their solution? Not to call the police, but to hold up the holdup men and their entire gang without hiding their faces. The gang leader, dapper Gene Fillmore (Chester Morris), captures the young couple before they can get away with the money. He then tells them that he can either call the police and get them arrested for armed robbery or they can agree to do some favor for him in the near future. The problem is that "favor" involves being a distraction during a jewelry store robbery in which a store salesman is killed. Now the two kids are technically as guilty of murder as the robbers themselves. Complications ensue.

Precode and even early sound films were often remade once sound technology got more advanced in the mid to late 30s, but they usually took advantage of those advancements to make a more sophisticated plot with a less claustrophobic and static setting. This film does neither of these things. And the film just shrieks "low budget". This is illustrated when the young couple is mixing it up on the dance floor in Fillmore's nightspot. They are shot from slightly below the waist up so you can't see that they cannot dance. The worst thing that this retread does is make the young couple as dense as the original couple was in the 1930 version. And dense does not automatically translate into likeable.

Young couple aside, the casting of the rest of the film was well done. Chester Morris was always a good choice when casting a gray yet sophisticated character. Lee Patrick is great as the sassy vengeful gun moll as opposed to the rather bland Helene Millard in the same role in the original. Then there is Eduardo Ciannelli as the hissing malevolent Rocky who wants to depose Fillmore as gang leader. Finally Walter Abel is a big improvement as the crusading prosecutor.

I'd recommend this one only for the very cinematically curious.

Eduardo Ciannelli robs Richard Bond and Anne Shirley of the $136 they plan to get married on. They track him to where his gang is meeting. The boss is Chester Morris, who leads the seemingly impeccable life of a socialite when he isn't planning jewel robberies. He gets the youngsters to act as come-ons in one of his robberies, but they refuse the $2000 he offers them. They only want their $136.

All fine and settled, until Morris has to kill Ciannelli, Ciannelli's squeeze, night-club singer Lee Patrick commits suicide with with a $1000 check from Morris, and the youngsters are picked up in a raid on a closed night club. DA Walter Abel knows what's going on, but he can't prove anything in court. Who can he squeeze?

It's a remake of 1930's THE PAY-OFF, based on a successful play; Morris had played the Cianenlli role on stage. I can see it working, but, alas, it doesn't here, not quite. Morris is smooth, a little too nonchalant considering the stakes. It's a rare miscalculation for him. But no one is particularly stellar here. Miss Shirley is whiny, Abel is brisk, and so forth. Well, at least Nick Musuraca offers some nice, shadowy compositions. With Paul Guilfoyle, Eddie Acuff, and Jack Carson.

"Tommy" (Richard Bond) and girlfriend "Annabelle" (Anne Shirley) are a loved-up young couple dreaming of marriage who are robbed in the park of their life savings by a couple of opportunist mobsters. He recognises one of the thugs but instead of calling the cops, they try to deal with it themselves. That's their first big mistake and before long they are sweating it out in a police cell accused of complicity in a murder by the new D. A. "Rogers" (Walter Abel) who is bent on cleaning up the city. Meantime, city grandee "Fillmore" (Chester Morris) is playing a game of double-dealing as he also runs the gang that's at the centre of the youngster's problems. With them facing the chair, might he have a change of heart or are they toast? It's not a bad little effort all round, this film, though clearly the budget wasn't much. Eduardo Cianelli works well as the ruthless challenge to the more moderate "Fillmore" and Lee Patrick also delivers as the moll with a vicious streak a mile wide, but there's far too much dialogue and the denouement a bit too conveniently flat after not enough action. That said, Morris was always competent with these kind of roles and the ensemble do enough to pass an hour easily enough.

Tommy and his girl get robbed in the park by Rocky and Bill. It's all their money. Warren Rogers is the new appointed D. A. and he promises to clean up the city. Respectable citizen Gene Fillmore (Chester Morris) claims to be too scared to take on the mob, but he is secretly the boss of a gang. Tommy and his girl barge in on the gang to try to take back their money. Gene uses the gullible couple in his jewelry store heist. There are complications.

This is a dumb gangster flick from RKO. I don't see how the couple would actually see themselves stealing back the money in that way. The story would be better if they go to a cop who turns out to be corrupt. It's very annoying the way the couple plays dumb. They are too dumb to live.

Chet morris, anne shirley. A sixty one minute shortie from RKO, based on the play by john hymer and samuel shipman. When engaged couple gene and annabelle cross paths with the mob, they get caught up in the underworld drama. And may have to pay the price. Will the mob boss do the right thing? Watch for a song, sung in the nightclub by lee patrick. She's not really known by name, but she sure popped up in some big films.. mildred pierce, vertigo, maltese falcon, mame! Wow, respect. It's simple, but good. No big twists and turns in the film version. Probably made for a suspense-full play, and might have been more fun before the film code white-washed the heck out of films and plays. Directed by lew landers. Chester morris had been in original the play also!