The Pay Off

The Pay Off (1930)

Genres - Crime  |   Sub-Genres - Crime Drama  |   Release Date - Oct 15, 1930 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 65 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
  • AllMovie Rating
    2
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Share on

Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Exercising his usual creative prerogative, Lowell Sherman was both star and director of RKO's The Pay Off. Sherman plays Gene Fenmore, a jaded gangster boss who falls in love with innocent young Nancy Porter (Marian Nixon). When Nancy's sweetheart Tommy Brown (William Janney) faces execution for a crime he didn't commit, Gene's first impulse is to let the boy fry so that he can have a clear field with the heroine. Ultimately, however, Gene proves he's a decent sort by clearing Tommy and philosophically keeping that date with the electric chair himself. Released in Great Britain as The Losing Game, The Pay-Off was remade in 1938 as Law of the Underworld, with Chester Morris in the old Lowell Sherman role.

Characteristics

Keywords

robbery, love, Robin-Hood, romance, self-sacrifice