Danaro e sangue

Lee Tracy is no good-looking guy, but he sure can talk. As an ace reporter he needs not trumps to carry the whole game all the way home with a vengeance. There are a lot of casualties on the way of this stormy whirlpool of intrigues, but there is a charming woman also, who actually helps Dick Tracy on the way although she actually also shoots him down when things get too nervy. But this mess too is just an ordinary winding up of general corruption, money being the game and the object of everyone's greed, and everyone dying to get it, some actually shooting their ways out for the mere sport of it. It's a fast and rickety thriller of no mystery but many knots to tie up, one untied knot constantly leading to greater knots higher up. You will enjoy this stormy ride on the ocean of corruption, and you'll never guess who was the top manager of this circus of lies and smokescreens until he is no more but still gets an honorary epitaph, and Lee Tracy ultimately gets what even he wants.

When the film begins, the reporter Brad McKay (Lee Tracy) is doing what most reporters seem to do in films when they're not on assignment-- he's playing poker with the boys. While this is taking place, across town someone is ventilating the District Attorney's head with a .38 slug...so at least we know that the guys playing poker weren't responsible. But who is? And, like most B-crime films, it's inevitably that the fast-talking reporter knows infinitely more than the stupid cops...so it will be up to him to solve the case.

This film is an interesting comedown for Tracy. Back in the 30s, he made films for several big studios, including Columbia and MGM. However, after a series of public embarrassments, Tracy's film work consisted of working for the crappiest studios...and it didn't get any crappier than PRC...who made this film. However, for a PRC film it's much better than usual...thanks mostly to Tracy as well as a halfway decent script...very unusual for PRC! Not a brilliant film but worth seeing and among the best PRC films I've seen. In other words, it surprisingly did not suck!

And Lee Tracy's thing was playing fast talkers. He was the original Hildy Johnson in The Front Page on Broadway.

Here he's Brad, a fast-talking reporter again, looking into the murder of the Special prosecutor. A gambler is suspected, but he has an air-tight alibi. The publisher of his paper sends Brad to cover the murder along with his son Guy (Tom Brown).

It's evident to Brad that the gambler, Moroni, did the murder. But he can't prove it. Moroni tells Brad that the prosecutor was getting a payoff, and that his assistant killed him. The assistant's daughter (Tina Thayer) says that her father is in danger from Moroni. Moroni is murdered. Brad knows there is someone above Moroni.

This is one of those one-hour-plus second features that seems like it lasts a lifetime. It was no surprise who was above Moroni either, thanks to the dialogue.

It wasn't great, but Tina Thayer was very pretty.

Lee Tracy was a big Broadway star who, though a character actor in films, played a lot of leads. He went back to Broadway after a scandal diminished his film career, but returned to win an Oscar nomination for The Best Man in the '60s, for which he won a Tony award. Nowadays, of course, the scandal would have garnered a ton of publicity.

There really isn't much of a mystery here, but if you like this type of film, which was common in the '40s, you may enjoy this.

Lee Tracy pretty easily carries the show in this fast-moving drama featuring fast talking and a set of familiar supporting characters ranging from the cub reporter to the police inspector needing help to the shady club owner to the girl whose father is in trouble. Evelyn Brent is the one other somewhat interesting character—as the wise female on the wrong side of the law, she's a challenge for Tracy to try and pull over to his side.

Tom Brown is the publisher's son who doubles as the cub reporter trying to learn the business; he's not particularly exciting but eager and fresh-faced and he does throw one punch. Tina Thayer as the daughter of the missing suspect doesn't have much to do and isn't given much to say, but she wears a worried look the best she can. Many other familiar faces populate the rest of the cast—the usual assortment of cops, crooks and reporters.

Oh, the plot? It's fairly complex, actually, having to do with a murdered special prosecutor investigating corruption and a $100,000 payoff that gets chased around for most of the picture.

The script is full of snappy dialog, some of it having to do with the plot, some just clever filler (Brown asks Tracy what they're going to do now, to which Tracy responds, "Slight pause for station identification."). Tracy also tells Brent in the first moments after their meeting, "After one drink, I propose," which adds a little nicely-calculated tension to their future encounters.

Worth a look for those of us who like rapid-fire dialog and don't mind a few clinkers or clichés.

Lee Tracy once again returns to the role of the fast talking newspaper reporter for PRC's The Pay Off. Tracy could do this role in his sleep, but fortunately put a great deal of conviction into his performance.

The murder of a special prosecutor and the disappearance of his assistant with $100,000.00 in pay off money is the kind of story Tracy can sink his teeth in. He's also got an assistant in this story, young Tom Brown has been told by his publisher father Robert Middlemass to learn the newspaper business from Tracy.

The Pay Off falls into Tracy's hands in the form of a key to bus locker terminal. As for the assistant, Tracy uses it for bait to flush out the bad guys including the mysterious Mr. Big. By this time Brown and Tina Thayer the daughter of the assistant have fallen in love.

As for Tracy he gets to out fox a sly fox of a hit woman in Evelyn Brent. His scene with her when she thinks he's dying of a gunshot wound is the best in the film.

Jack LaRue has a good part as a lizard like gambling club owner who will make your skin crawl.

Tracy's career took a downward skid when he got fired from MGM off the Viva Villa set. For the next dozen or so years he caught on with a lot of low budget studios, but I will say he gave as much conviction to his parts with places like PRC to those films he did with MGM in his top years.

The Pay Off is a good example of that.