SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

GazerRise Fantastic!

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

dougdoepke Debt-ridden bank teller (Laughton) commits murder causing tragedy to his family.He may be a mouse at work, but at home he's a bellowing tyrant. As Mr. Marble, it's no surprise that the histrionically inclined Laughton chews up the scenery. Too bad because the part calls for the kind of nuance allowing us to sympathize with Marble's eventual fate. As things turn out, it's O'Sullivan's repentant daughter Winnie who brings that last, crucial scene to life. Reviewer st-shot is right—director Mendes appears unable to manage Laughton's outrageous histrionics, especially following the murder, when Laughton's behavior fairly shouts some kind of guilt. Unfortunately, his overplaying overshadows the production as a whole.The movie itself never gets beyond its stage origins, with a single parlor-room set. Thus, the description of Laughton as a bull in a china shop is all too apt. On the plus side are the winsome O'Sullivan and the appealing Peterson as the daughter and the wife, respectively. Unlike Laughton, they engage us at an important realistic level. However, Teasdale's comic book French seductress appears to have graduated from the same eyeball-rolling school of acting as Laughton. Their scenes together do offer entertainment of a different kind. All in all, the production amounts to an early talkie misfire whose dramatic potential is deserving of a modern re- make.(In passing—unless I missed something, the movie's central irony is undercut by the fact we're never informed of which death, or both, Marble is being punished for!)

Michael_Elliott 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.

Bucs1960 Charles Laughton is at his twitchy best in this early film, reprising his stage role as the bank clerk who has fallen on hard times. Unexpected money turns up in the person of Ray Milland, a long lost nephew. Milland is unwilling to lend or invest his funds with Laughton and with the help of a little arsenic, murder ensues. The remainder of the film revolves around the question as to whether Laughton will be caught out or not. The title provides the answer, as he pays but not for Milland's death.Laughton pulls out all the stops as the unstable clerk and his acting is very eccentric but interesting. Dorothy Peterson is his put-upon wife and she is not called upon to do much except grovel and submit to Laughton's petulance and fits of rage. A very young Maureen O'Sullivan is pert and pretty as the daughter and the wonderful character actress Veree Teasdale is a treat as the phony French blackmailer who spins a web around Laughton.The film has a stage bound look for obvious reasons with the majority of the scenes taking place in the house. The prologue, in which the landlord (Billy Bevan without his signature mustache) is showing the house to a prospective buyer (busy English actor Halliwell Hobbes), is a clever lead-in to the main action. Bevan's story of the how,who and why of the murder illustrates that not all is what it appears.Although dated, this film is very well worth seeing for a look at an early Laughton effort, although his acting style remained pretty much the same throughout his career........edgy, a bit hammy, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Ron Oliver After committing a horrible murder, an insolvent bank clerk finds the PAYMENT DEFERRED on his crime in the most surprising matter.Reprising his stage role, Charles Laughton, all fidgets & blinks, is the main reason to view this little film. He overacts outrageously and is vastly entertaining to watch, even if the plot of this domestic melodrama becomes turgid at times. With his large face, sad eyes & nervous body, he is the very picture of a man dealing with a terribly guilty conscience. Cooing like a dove, roused to brutish wrath or laughing maniacally, Laughton is certainly never boring. With his great film roles still ahead of him (Henry VIII, Bligh, Quasimodo), Laughton in this early role shows hints of his eventual greatness.The rest of the cast really defer to Laughton, but they all play their parts very well, especially Dorothy Peterson as his long-suffering wife - her emotional agony as Laughton's secrets slowly dawn upon her are truly painful to watch. Maureen O'Sullivan shows spunk as their social climbing daughter; Verree Teasdale is pure poison as a French seductress.Billy Bevan as a nosy neighbor, Halliwell Hobbes as an old fellow fascinated with crime, and young Ray Milland as Laughton's charming, tragic nephew all make their small roles memorable.The frankly handled adultery points to the film's pre-Production Code status.