The Devil to Pay! (1930)

Director:

George Fitzmaurice

Writers:

Frederick Lonsdale (story)
Benjamin Glazer (screen adaptation)

Release Date:

20 December 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Spendthrift Willie Leyland again returns to the family home in London penniless. His father is none...

Plot Keywords:

Russian | Taxicab | Family Relationships | Detective | Wager

Cast

Ronald Colman	...	Willie Hale
Frederick Kerr	...	Lord Leland
Loretta Young	...	Dorothy Hope
David Torrence	...	Mr. Hope
Florence Britton	...	Susan Hale
Myrna Loy	...	Mary Crayle
Paul Cavanagh	...	Grand Duke Paul
Crauford Kent	...	Arthur (as Crawford Kent)

Runtime:

72 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

This was Frederick Lonsdale's first original screenplay, and it was not based on a play, as some references state.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Willie is in conference with Lord Leland, the details of the fireplace can be seen in detail, and it is obvious that the inside is a flat painted to resemble a hearth.

Soundtrack:

The British Grenadiers

Fluff, but delightful and entertaining fluff

Ronald Colman plays a prodigal son. While he is NOT a bad guy, he is a bit flighty and hasn't done a lot with his life other than travel the world and have a jolly good time. Now that his latest venture in Africa has failed, he's on his way home to England. His rich upper class father plans on tossing him out on his ear, though thanks to Ronald's winning style, he is reluctantly welcomed back with open arms.

At this point, there are two women in his life--showgirl Myrna Loy and rich girl Loretta Young (who is already engaged). How will all this work out and will Ronald wise up and act like a responsible adult--these are the main themes of this pleasant little film.

This isn't a great movie and certainly won't change your life, but it certainly is very entertaining and fun. Most of this is due to the always genial acting of Ronald Colman. Heck, in the heyday of his career in the 1930s, he could have played in REEFER MADNESS or some other dreck and still made it entertaining and likable due to his charming persona. His seemingly effortless style in this movie make it very easy to like him and it's easy to see why both Loretta Young and Myrna Loy are in love with him in the film! Plus, the writing is very witty and make this a nice romantic-comedy.