Payment Deferred (1932)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Lothar Mendes

Writers:

Jeffrey Dell (play)
Ernest Vajda (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 November 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Bank clerk William Marble is desperate for money to pay his family's bills. When his wealthy nephew visits...

Plot Keywords:

Money | Bank Clerk | Nephew | Investment | Murder

Cast

Charles Laughton	...	William Marble
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Winnie Marble
Dorothy Peterson	...	Annie Marble
Verree Teasdale	...	Marguerite Collins
Ray Milland	...	James Medland
Billy Bevan	...	Charlie Hammond
Halliwell Hobbes	...	A Prospective Tenant
William Stack	...	A Doctor

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #5571-R, 1 August 1939 for re-release)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York on 30 September 1931 and ran for 70 performances. Charles Laughton originated the role of William Marble. Also in the cast were Elsa Lanchester and Lionel Pape. 5 dialogue cuts to remove suggestive remarks were made for the 1939 re-release. Some censors eliminated references to cyanide before allowing the showing of the movie.

Quotes:

Marguerite Collins: Here I am, tied to a little shop. Ah well. We must try to smile, eh? But it is lonely. My husband is in a hospital in France. The war.
William Marble: Where was he wounded?
Marguerite Collins: Ohhh...
[shakes head]
Marguerite Collins: . That I cannot tell you. Oh, it is terrible!

Dated but Fun

Payment Deferred (1932)

*** (out of 4)

A bank clerk (Charles Laughton) decides to kill his rich nephew (Ray Milland) so that he can steal his wallet and pay off his families debt, which is about to put them in the poor house. After the murder Laughton sends his wife (Dorothy Peterson) and daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) on a trip and enters an affair. This is a rather interesting film, which has certainly been forgotten over the years but it's tale of a father murdering due to becoming poor might work just as good today as it did in 1932. The film is based on a famous play and for the most part the film plays out like you'd see it on stage but this is also a weakness as there's way too much talk going on. The screenplay seems to bounce back and forth from a serious drama to a crime film and even at times coming off like a black comedy. Laughton turns in a very good performance, although he does take it a bit over the top at times. You'll notice this whenever he begins to freak out that someone is going to find the body that he's buried in his back yard. This part of his performance might lend itself to the black comedy aspect. Milland doesn't have much of a role as he gets killed off rather early on but he's playing that jerk of a bad guy that we'd see him play throughout his career. O'Sullivan has a pretty thankless role but it's nice seeing her anyways.