Payment on Demand

"Payment on Demand" begins when David tells Joyce that he wants a divorce. In flashbacks we see how the couple came from humble beginnings and worked their way into affluence. David started from being a lawyer with no clients and worked his way up to being vice president of his best client, a steel company. Joyce was always preoccupied with security, money and status; she is a selfish, manipulative social climber and we can readily see why David wants out. As always, Bette Davis plays the bitch with consummate skill.

What follows shows the old-style divorce process at its worst and chronicles Joyce's life as a single woman. While this part is very well written, it is dated. We learn that an older single woman has no life (other than having to pay younger men to sleep with them) and you're always better off with a man.

While the themes of this film may seem pretty conventional by today's standards, they were anything but in 1951. Divorce was a subject literally ruled off the screen by the very Catholic-oriented Hays Code. Aside from frothy romantic comedies like "The Awful Truth," people just didn't get divorced because they were fed up with their spouses. Nor do films of that Hays era (from 1934 until 1968) ever delve into the actual process of contested divorce (such as the negotiations about property settlements). This film does all that. While the ending may seem disappointing (and was probably a concession to the censors), the rest of the film is excellent and way ahead of its time.

"Payment on Demand" is a good film. It's well made and interesting throughout. However, it has two minor flaws--you really don't care that much about the two main characters and the ending seemed a bit difficult to believe. Still, the acting is nice and the film is worth seeing.

The film begins with a husband (Barry Sullivan) announcing that he wants a divorce. The wife (Bette Davis) at first is in denial, as she insists to herself and others that he'll be back. Here is where it gets interesting. So far, you really dislike the husband as he seems pretty selfish. However, as the wife sits at home contemplating her life, she has flashbacks and through these interestingly constructed vignettes*, you see that she herself has contributed to the coldness in the marriage through her insistence that he become successful at any cost. Through this, you see that the marriage falling apart is both their faults and the film ends on a very strange note--that you'll just have to see to appreciate.

*These vignettes were unusual because they looked like a filmed version of a play. The sets would light up and when they were complete, the lights would dim--just like in a play. And, it worked very well.

Bette Davis works her usual magic with a colorless role as a wealthy society matron whose miserable husband wants her to give him a divorce. Film's best moments are the flashbacks to the couple's happier times, which are filmed in a dreamy, surreal manner. Jane Cowl gives an outstanding supporting performance as an elderly woman attracted to gigolos, but the centerpiece here is Davis, and she's magnetic as always. Filmed just before "All About Eve"--but released afterward--the picture benefits greatly from the shadowy cinematography, but the pacing plods a bit. Not a bad melodrama, but one that is never mentioned when film-historians revisit Davis' illustrious career. ** from ****

Classy slice of soap opera. Little b&w's like this, even with a big name star, were about to be phased out by TV and big screen Technicolor. The movie's basically a vehicle for Davis's formidable talents, but in the process manages a few poignant moments. I like the flashback format since it counter-poses David (Sullivan) and Joyce's (Davis) early, happy years of struggle with the wealthy snob that Joyce becomes. Of course, actress Davis is much better at being shrewish than being wifely restrained. But her early restraint hides a deeper nature as she schemes to bring about David's law office success. As a result, we can believe how Joyce will later exploit David's wealth.

Bernhardt directs with smoothness and assurance. Clearly, he's at home with the shadings of social class and wounded emotion. Those catty sessions between upper-class women are particularly well done. Still, when I think dutiful husband, I don't think Barry Sullivan. With his edgy features, he looks more at home with a Colt.45 and a growl, (The Gangster, {1947}). Nonetheless, he's properly reserved here allowing Davis to dominate. David is, however, pretty hard to believe as being the meekly nice guy he turns out to be, which may be the movie's major flaw. Still, the ending manages an element of uncertainty, which I guess was still enough to satisfy Code watchdogs. Watch too for bobby-soxer Betty Lynn (Martha) 10-years away from Mayberry and Don Knotts.

I guess many folks would call this a woman's picture, so it's not for all tastes. Nonetheless, the 90-minutes amounts to a solid example of how Hollywood could polish up even the most shopworn kind of plot. Kudoes to RKO.

In Payment On Demand Bette Davis gets the shock of her life when husband Barry Sullivan asks her for a divorce. They seem to be the perfect couple with two daughters both about to leave the nest. They are a social success in their small town, something that Bette has striven very hard for. Possibly too hard.

If it is true that RKO held up Payment On Demand to see how All About Eve would fair, they needn't have worried. Bette under the direction of Curtis Bernhardt whom she knew and worked with in her days at Warner Brothers gave her just the right direction for a spirited performance. Before All About Eve she had left Warner Brothers under a cloud with the stinker Beyond The Forest fresh in everyone's mind.

It takes her the whole film to realize how much she's alienated her attorney husband Sullivan. They're a great social success, but he's lost friends in the process. Particularly Kent Taylor, a young attorney who Sullivan started out in practice with. You have to see how Davis in her helpful way accomplishes that.

In the supporting cast singled out should be stage great Jane Cowl as Bette's mentor and friend who has gone down a path that she foresees for Davis. Also John Sutton who plays a shipboard lounge lizard that Davis pulls back from. A timely telegram from one of her daughters helps.

Though the order they were made was reversed, Payment On Demand proved to be an excellent followup film to All About Eve. Bette Davis was definitely back on top.