The Pay Off

Lee Tracy is no good-looking guy, but he sure can talk. As an ace reporter he needs not trumps to carry the whole game all the way home with a vengeance. There are a lot of casualties on the way of this stormy whirlpool of intrigues, but there is a charming woman also, who actually helps Dick Tracy on the way although she actually also shoots him down when things get too nervy. But this mess too is just an ordinary winding up of general corruption, money being the game and the object of everyone's greed, and everyone dying to get it, some actually shooting their ways out for the mere sport of it. It's a fast and rickety thriller of no mystery but many knots to tie up, one untied knot constantly leading to greater knots higher up. You will enjoy this stormy ride on the ocean of corruption, and you'll never guess who was the top manager of this circus of lies and smokescreens until he is no more but still gets an honorary epitaph, and Lee Tracy ultimately gets what even he wants.

When the film begins, the reporter Brad McKay (Lee Tracy) is doing what most reporters seem to do in films when they're not on assignment-- he's playing poker with the boys. While this is taking place, across town someone is ventilating the District Attorney's head with a .38 slug...so at least we know that the guys playing poker weren't responsible. But who is? And, like most B-crime films, it's inevitably that the fast-talking reporter knows infinitely more than the stupid cops...so it will be up to him to solve the case.

This film is an interesting comedown for Tracy. Back in the 30s, he made films for several big studios, including Columbia and MGM. However, after a series of public embarrassments, Tracy's film work consisted of working for the crappiest studios...and it didn't get any crappier than PRC...who made this film. However, for a PRC film it's much better than usual...thanks mostly to Tracy as well as a halfway decent script...very unusual for PRC! Not a brilliant film but worth seeing and among the best PRC films I've seen. In other words, it surprisingly did not suck!

Lee Tracy fans rejoice! "The Payoff" (1944) is absolutely essential must viewing for Lee Tracy's legion of fans, so I'm giving it a "Recommended" tag even though it's only available on a very good VintageFilmBuff DVD which you'll need to track down. Admittedly, two of the support players, namely the diminutive but mysterious Tina Thayer (even IMDb can tell us very little about her) and the wonderful Evelyn Brent do get a bit of a look-in, but it's plainly a Lee Tracy vehicle specifically designed for Lee Tracy fans – and for Lee Tracy fans only. Lee has twice as many lines as all the rest of the cast put together and two hundred times more close-ups than Tom Brown. (If memory serves me correctly, Tom has one). True, the lines are third-rate compared to those hatched up for Tracy in "Blessed Event" (1932), but self-indulgent Lee makes the most of them anyway. Arthur Dreifuss is credited as the director here, but I can't for the life of me figure out what Arthur did. Tracy needed no coaching and he simply talks right into the camera. Maybe Dreifuss shot the 10% of the movie in which Tracy doesn't appear? If so, he didn't do a very good job.

Hot-shot newspaper reporter Lee Tracy is involved in a poker game when a prosecutor is murdered. Tracy was reporting on the DA's latest investigation, so he's called in for help. Instead he has to clear the prime suspect, John Maxwell, because he was also part of the poker game when the murder happened. Maxwell tells Tracy to look into the prosecutor's assistant Forrest Taylor, as he was on the take. Soon after Tracy meets Taylor's daughter Tina Thayer, and Maxwell ends up dead in Tracy's apartment. Tracy and Taylor need to find out the truth soon before more people end up dead, being targeted themselves as well by Maxwell's partner, casino owner Jack La Rue.

A mystery/crime programmer done at PRC, the plot is overly complex and convoluted, and relies too much on conveniences and plot holes. But it also uses a most effective means to deal with this, it moves at a quick pace, so there's little room to think about the previous scene, as the current scene demands attention.

Lee Tracy ('High Tide', TV's 'Martin Kane') was once a big name, but in the 40s he was a has-been, and relegated to these low-budget features. His talent for fast & sharp talking works well here, as it fits the character perfectly. Tina Thayer is also quite decent as the demure but determined daughter who wants to find out the truth about her father. She went into a different career, ending her short acting career. Jack La Rue ('The Story Of Temple Drake') also had a decent career in the 30s before losing steam. These has-been actors were a gift for the poverty row studios tho, as they offered decent acting skills and somewhat recognizable names.

While IMDb classifies this movie as film noir, it is only remotely noir-ish. It is a much more straight-forward crime/mystery that also lacks the noir visuals. Director Arthur Dreifuss (a couple of Boston Blackie movies) does what needs to be done to get the story onto film and DoP Ira Morgan (lensing such classics as 'Criminal Investigator' and 'Sensation Hunters' aka 'Club Paradise') manages to sneak in a few decent shots, but all in all they handled the material as routinely as possible. Given it's a PRC production and they probably had no budget or time to experiment with setups, they can hardly be blamed. It's decent enough, but then again I am partial to these movies. 6-/10

Lee Tracy made a career out of playing wise-cracking reporters, in fact, the model for such roles. Interestingly, this film was made for him, Tracy personally investing in a series of dramas for PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation). Unfortunately, with WWII just beginning, Tracy could only star in one feature before joining the US Army as a first lieutenant.

Despite a low budget, what PRC was famous for, the script by Edward Dein is excellent, and Tracy putting in a 100 percent. He plays reporter Brad McCay, who with his adult son, Guy (played by Tom Brown), investigates the murder of a district attorney, who yes, was on the payroll. Money, money, money! Character actor John Maxwell plays Moroni, lead suspect, although Brad has a difficult time linking him to the crime, while Moroni claims he knows the true killer.

So WHODUNIT? I agree, the cast of familiar B-film actors make this worth a look. Silent screen star Evelyn Brent plays Alma. Ian Keith portrays a detective, and long time villain Jack LaRue makes an appearance. Why not? Tina Thayer plays Phyllis, who appeared mostly in films in the 40s.

Edward Dein went onto write several cult films, later lead writer for tv's HAWAIIAN EYE, a hero to all us kids.

Thanks much to RETRO TV for bringing back this oldie. The film is on dvd, often in box sets with other B films favorites.