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"Payment on Demand" begins when David tells Joyce that he wants a divorce. In flashbacks we see how the couple came from humble beginnings and worked their way into affluence. David started from being a lawyer with no clients and worked his way up to being vice president of his best client, a steel company. Joyce was always preoccupied with security, money and status; she is a selfish, manipulative social climber and we can readily see why David wants out. As always, Bette Davis plays the bitch with consummate skill.

What follows shows the old-style divorce process at its worst and chronicles Joyce's life as a single woman. While this part is very well written, it is dated. We learn that an older single woman has no life (other than having to pay younger men to sleep with them) and you're always better off with a man.

While the themes of this film may seem pretty conventional by today's standards, they were anything but in 1951. Divorce was a subject literally ruled off the screen by the very Catholic-oriented Hays Code. Aside from frothy romantic comedies like "The Awful Truth," people just didn't get divorced because they were fed up with their spouses. Nor do films of that Hays era (from 1934 until 1968) ever delve into the actual process of contested divorce (such as the negotiations about property settlements). This film does all that. While the ending may seem disappointing (and was probably a concession to the censors), the rest of the film is excellent and way ahead of its time.

"Payment on Demand" is a good film. It's well made and interesting throughout. However, it has two minor flaws--you really don't care that much about the two main characters and the ending seemed a bit difficult to believe. Still, the acting is nice and the film is worth seeing.

The film begins with a husband (Barry Sullivan) announcing that he wants a divorce. The wife (Bette Davis) at first is in denial, as she insists to herself and others that he'll be back. Here is where it gets interesting. So far, you really dislike the husband as he seems pretty selfish. However, as the wife sits at home contemplating her life, she has flashbacks and through these interestingly constructed vignettes*, you see that she herself has contributed to the coldness in the marriage through her insistence that he become successful at any cost. Through this, you see that the marriage falling apart is both their faults and the film ends on a very strange note--that you'll just have to see to appreciate.

*These vignettes were unusual because they looked like a filmed version of a play. The sets would light up and when they were complete, the lights would dim--just like in a play. And, it worked very well.

I just saw Payment on Demand for the first time last night. An excellent Bette Davis vehicle! As you all know, this movie was made before All About Eve (though it was released after) and the first movie she made after leaving Warners in 1949. The role and the movie is vintage Bette, a return to form you might say after the three flops she made with Warners in 48 and 49. The quality of the movie is perfectly good. Even though it is not "restored" the picture quality is just fine, especially if you own a Blue Ray player. Curtis B. does a great job directing and the flashback scenes are wonderful. Bette is very good in this role. She looks amazing in the flashback scenes and the Edith Head wardrobe is fabulous. For me, Payment on Demand is the Bette Davis Holy Grail since it has never before been released and almost never shown on TV. It is worth the price of the DVD or download.

In Payment On Demand Bette Davis gets the shock of her life when husband Barry Sullivan asks her for a divorce. They seem to be the perfect couple with two daughters both about to leave the nest. They are a social success in their small town, something that Bette has striven very hard for. Possibly too hard.

If it is true that RKO held up Payment On Demand to see how All About Eve would fair, they needn't have worried. Bette under the direction of Curtis Bernhardt whom she knew and worked with in her days at Warner Brothers gave her just the right direction for a spirited performance. Before All About Eve she had left Warner Brothers under a cloud with the stinker Beyond The Forest fresh in everyone's mind.

It takes her the whole film to realize how much she's alienated her attorney husband Sullivan. They're a great social success, but he's lost friends in the process. Particularly Kent Taylor, a young attorney who Sullivan started out in practice with. You have to see how Davis in her helpful way accomplishes that.

In the supporting cast singled out should be stage great Jane Cowl as Bette's mentor and friend who has gone down a path that she foresees for Davis. Also John Sutton who plays a shipboard lounge lizard that Davis pulls back from. A timely telegram from one of her daughters helps.

Though the order they were made was reversed, Payment On Demand proved to be an excellent followup film to All About Eve. Bette Davis was definitely back on top.

More than half a century later, I found this film still moving and still relevant. One can pretend that the world and women's lives have been transformed but even now, this rings true. Women who divorce often do not have an easy time with rebuilding and even though this film made the wife a bit too unsympathetic and the husband too "nice," plenty of forty-something men leave wives who helped them through school and difficult times to go find a younger, fresher edition. I lived it, without all the exaggerations and transparent walls, but with two daughters and a remarried ex-husband. This film spoke to me and I would say that with a bit of truth-telling, there would be a chorus of ayes from those who can do more than imagine feeling the wife's loss and hostility at the husband who betrayed their youth -- perhaps even more than she did by being ambitious. I would like to report that the present is a new world and for some it is, for many, it is not and the great Ms. Davis' eyes tell truth.

Some well-known names in here... Bette Davis was in just EVERYTHING in the 1930s and 1940s. (You MUST see All About Eve, if you haven't already). Natalie Schafer was "Lovey" in Gilligan's Island. Richard Anderson will go on to be Oscar on the Six Million Dollar Man. The storyline is a bit maudlin and depressing ( and rather ordinary, by today's standards.) Back in the day, divorce was uncommon, and much more of a town scandal... which we see when even the newspaper calls the wife to get the sordid details. The jilted wife, being a Bette Davis character, tells him right off. SO many flashbacks. it's all a bit depressing, but was probably more fascinating and interesting back in the day. the irony of the husband's success as he climbs up the ladder, while the marriage slowly comes apart. Barry Sullivan is the husband.

Directed by Curis Bernhardt... had started in the silents in Germany. worked his way to hollywood and directed some good films. This wasn't his best. it's very okay. nothing too new or exciting.

Joyce Ramsey (Bette Davis) is the hard driving force inside her marriage to lawyer David Ramsey. They are well off with daughters Martha and Diana. Suddenly, David wants a divorce. In flashbacks, their relationship is shown from their poor beginnings and the cancer growing within it.

This is Marriage Story from the 50's. That's a crazy concept. I would have liked less aggression imbalance between Joyce and David although that's the premise here. I can't ignore that. She is the alpha in the relationship and Bette Davis is the perfect vehicle for the material. Her acting power is a great match for her character's personality. Overall, it's a compelling character work in a challenging film considering the era.

It is hard not to expect a lot from a film with such a great title, 'Payment on Demand' promises such a lot, although somehow the story was not the story that entered my mind when reading the title before reading any synopsis. It is also hard not to expect a lot from a film that starred such a great actress like Bette Davis, in a role that sounded like it would fit her like a glove and one she would play to the hilt in a good way.

'Payment on Demand' may not be a great one, but it was gripping and well photographed, scripted and acted. Not to mention quite biting and ahead of its time. It may not be for anyone that doesn't like films that rely quite heavily on flashbacks, but anybody who loves Davis regardless of her character's purposeful lack of likeability will find it quite a treat and much to admire (even if not everything works), me being one of those people.

Beginning with what works, the shadowy photography is quite beautiful to look at and her wardrobe for Davis is fabulous and suits her. The music avoids being too melodramatic, which is amazing considering the type of film/story that it is accompanying. The script is snappy and intelligent and avoids being too soapy or cliched. Regardless of how the story may seem today, it was as said by others actually ahead of its time in its handling of its subject. Done so with truth and bite.

The flashbacks generally entertain and intrigue, even if there could have been less of them. Although Davis' character is as far away from likeable as one can get, the characters on the most part are well written and interesting. Curtis Bernhardt's direction handles everything skillfully. Most of the acting is very good, with Jane Cowl excellent in her part and Otto Kruger a strong presence in his. Best of all is Davis, who is magnetic as usual and attacks her role with gusto.

Conversely, the pace plods at times as a result of 'Payment on Demand' being a little too flashback-heavy. The ending had a running out of steam feel, felt forced and actually somewhat safe for a film that was unflinchingly ahead of its time.

Sadly there was an exception to the acting though through really in no fault of his own. Barry Sullivan has a character that is not as interesting as the rest and was a bit bland as a result.

Overall, pretty good though Davis' performance is better than the film. 7/10

Bette Davis works her usual magic with a colorless role as a wealthy society matron whose miserable husband wants her to give him a divorce. Film's best moments are the flashbacks to the couple's happier times, which are filmed in a dreamy, surreal manner. Jane Cowl gives an outstanding supporting performance as an elderly woman attracted to gigolos, but the centerpiece here is Davis, and she's magnetic as always. Filmed just before "All About Eve"--but released afterward--the picture benefits greatly from the shadowy cinematography, but the pacing plods a bit. Not a bad melodrama, but one that is never mentioned when film-historians revisit Davis' illustrious career. ** from ****

Classy slice of soap opera. Little b&w's like this, even with a big name star, were about to be phased out by TV and big screen Technicolor. The movie's basically a vehicle for Davis's formidable talents, but in the process manages a few poignant moments. I like the flashback format since it counter-poses David (Sullivan) and Joyce's (Davis) early, happy years of struggle with the wealthy snob that Joyce becomes. Of course, actress Davis is much better at being shrewish than being wifely restrained. But her early restraint hides a deeper nature as she schemes to bring about David's law office success. As a result, we can believe how Joyce will later exploit David's wealth.

Bernhardt directs with smoothness and assurance. Clearly, he's at home with the shadings of social class and wounded emotion. Those catty sessions between upper-class women are particularly well done. Still, when I think dutiful husband, I don't think Barry Sullivan. With his edgy features, he looks more at home with a Colt.45 and a growl, (The Gangster, {1947}). Nonetheless, he's properly reserved here allowing Davis to dominate. David is, however, pretty hard to believe as being the meekly nice guy he turns out to be, which may be the movie's major flaw. Still, the ending manages an element of uncertainty, which I guess was still enough to satisfy Code watchdogs. Watch too for bobby-soxer Betty Lynn (Martha) 10-years away from Mayberry and Don Knotts.

I guess many folks would call this a woman's picture, so it's not for all tastes. Nonetheless, the 90-minutes amounts to a solid example of how Hollywood could polish up even the most shopworn kind of plot. Kudoes to RKO.

(1951) Payment On Demand DRAMA

Co-written and directed by Curtis Bernhardt that has Barry Sullivan starring as David Anderson Ramsey getting a divorce from his wife, Joyce Ramsey played by Bette Davis after staying together of many years. And the film dwells on why that is, for it's more of a self- examination. For the average viewer, this film can be quite boring, since when couples break up- they're usually more extreme and entertaining than this, except that this film does a good job on focusing on this particular couple breaking up. And is still relevant despite how old it is, but felt quite long and drags at times.

This was Bette Davis's first film after All About Eve (1950), and it surprisingly showed that the aging star's "staying power" at that time.

Payment on Demand shows Davis in both her strong conniving side as well as her weaker more vulnerable side.

Here, she plays Joyce Ramsey, the middle-aged wife of David Ramsey (Barry Sullivan) and the mother of two daughters in their late teens or early 20s: Martha (Betty Lynn) and Diana (Peggie Castle).

As the movie opens, we see Joyce as the wife of a successful man and the mother of burgeoning and wonderful daughters. She clearly is happy with her station in life and its situation, and confident that everything is under control. However, when her husband comes home one evening and asks for a divorce, it throws her off balance. As she displays a calm facade, she reflects back on her married life. The movie displays this backward reflection as a series of flashback scenes in silhouette (which I found as very convincing as a way to show the past without leaving the present). There, flashback scenes show the Ramseys as hopeful and full of life as they run off to get married and meet life head on.

Now, those salad days are gone and David is tired of the superficial life that his wife has helped make for him. But, filing for divorce is one thing, and the anticipation of living in that life is quite another, as Joyce finds out...

Once again Davis does not disappoint!watch out for those deadly Davis eyes!

The story is told mostly by flashbacks in a very effective way.terrific performances by all.

Is this vintage Bette Davis film w/ Barry Sullivan available on VHS or DVD? Also in the cast was Jane Cowl. I hope it hasn't been destroyed somehow or someone has film rights. Please advise on current status of this good film. "Another Man's Poison" is a film done within a year of this one. The subject of divorce is well documented in this Davis classic "Payment on Demand". I know this film has not aired on any TV networks. I am wondering when it was last aired since its initial release. I know Davis fans are wondering what became of this 1951 film. "A Catered Affair" is another Davis film that has not received a lot of air time but I know this has been re- released since its debut. I procured "Mr. Skeffington" recently in DVD which was a treat having the director comment on making this film w/ Bette

Respectfully, WCM

Bette Davis gives this boring 50s divorce drama some gravitas.