Pago Para Matar

Dane Clark was one of the actors who went to England and made these films for Hammer, Kit Parker Films, etc.

Here he stars in "Paid to Kill," a 1954 film also starring Anthony Forwood, Paul Carpenter, and Cecile Chevreau.

Clark plays a businessman out of options when an important deal falls through. Desiring security for his wife, whom he adores, he arranges for someone to kill him.

We've seen this before, though it does contain a twist. However, it's pretty routine.

Clark was a John Garfield wannabe who had a prolific, if not spectacular career in films and television for nearly five decades.

Anthony Forwood, a tall, handsome Brit, was married to Glynis Johns before he became the manager and long-time companion of Dirk Bogarde. He actually made a few films in the '50s before working behind the scenes.

I like these black and white British mystery/suspense films. Some are better than others, but they manage to be entertaining.

Dane Clark often played ambiguous characters (check the so called well -meaning brother-in -law in " without honor"). Here ,going bankrupt, he wants to die so his wife can collect the insurance money :but he makes no bones about blackmailing an old friend he formerly helped to escape from the gallows. His killer has to do away with him in a way it looks like an accident.

But a new associate retrieves the situation :now the factory is thriving again and there's no more reason to sacrifice one's life. But the "paid to kill" man seems to have disappeared , and there's no way to get the message "the deal is off" through .Soon the industrialist is victim of a murder attempt .But the killer might be someone else who takes advantage of the situation ; when you are wealthy and married to a pretty wife,you have other enemies you do not suspect.

Good film noir ,in a sticky atmosphere (the sauna!) , with enough unexpected twists to sustain the interest throughout.

The next film covered by the "House of Hammer Podcast" was "Five Days" or "Paid to Kill", if you prefer. The version I watched was the one currently available on Youtube and there were some sound issues, at the start of the presentation particularly. The last few films have essentially been murder mysteries cloaked in different skins, so I liked this one for doing something different.

James Nevill (Dane Clark) is a businessman managing a London based Investment firm. Having gone in big on a deal that goes sour, Nevill strikes a deal with an old friend Paul Kirby (Paul Carpenter), from shadier times, to kill him at some point in the next five days, so that is wife can collect on the insurance payment. However, the business deal undergoes a last-minute change and proceeds securing the finances of the firm going forward. Nevill tries to locate Kirby, to call off the deal but he is nowhere to be found. He must now try and find his friend and explain the situation before he finds him.

A second film for Dane Clark, having been in "The Gambler and the Lady" which I watched last year and in which he co-starred with Anthony Forwood, who appears again in this one. I thought Clark was a bit better in that film though, where he portrayed a former gangster struggling in society circles, than he was here. There's a touch more nuance required for this one and I never really bought that Nevill loved his wife enough be so practically suicidal. He also seems to be pushing his wife to the possibility of moving on (with Forwood) after he's gone too, which again is a theme from an earlier Hammer film.

The film is also notable for having Charles Hawtrey in a small non-speaking role.

Whilst I wouldn't, in any way, describe "Five Days" as a lost gem, it was watchable enough to hold my attention, despite some less the great performances, and the arrival of a different plot was welcome.

So Five Days is a somewhat formulaic murder mystery that still manages to be kind of entertaining. Clark is a likeable enough actor but I feel that he was a bit weak in this performance, and Chevreau was equally underwhelming. Carpenter and Gregory on the other hand were solid and helped to elevate the proceedings. The remainder of the cast and performances were serviceable. There is a bit of a plot twist toward the end of the film but rather mild and not really all that surprising. The twist wasn't really surprising at all because despite an apparently deep almost obsessive love for his wife, he treated her very poorly and showed her little respect. Not a great film by any means but still kind of fun to check out if you have 70 minutes and are curious.

For the fifties decade, this plot was very surprising, inventive, exciting. Now, in 2023, we can say that this scheme has been used many times in many suspense thriller plots. Unfortunately, the ending is always more or less predictable. Nevertheless, this littme UK thriller remains outstanding, not very long, pullled by a stong acting and cast. As in many features of this period, some US actors were hired for British productions. I recommend this one for any thriller buff, no matter the B production standard. Keep in mind that a B movie is not necessarily a lousy one, on the contrary: a lesser budget permits many daring and offbeat stories. This one is the best example.