Payment on Demand (1951)

[moira finnie]

Did anyone see the Bette Davis movie, Payment on Demand (1951)? For some unknown reason, my DVR only recorded the first three minutes.

[JackFavell]

I started watching and konked out at about the same time your recorder did, maybe a little bit longer.

It looked pretty interesting... the tension was strong between Davis and Sullivan, especially when it came to their children. There was a good scene at the beginning showing Bette's snobbery, though it's later revealed that she herself came from a dirt poor, uncaring family. Her daughter's boyfriend shows up, named Pulanski, who sets off Bette's maternal radar, and although Pulanski works hard for a living, and agrees that the daughter is not mature enough for marriage, Bette seems less than thrilled with the choice.

Davis and Sullivan worked extremely well together, it was good casting with Sullivan in the weaker position, he actually got in some splendidly stifled, frustrated moments. The two did not listen to one another and I thought their chemistry was just sensational - they were either bored or irritated by turns with one another for subverted reasons that were not readily apparent. When he told her he wanted a divorce, the movie spun into some neatly drawn flashbacks of the couple as they fell in love, got married (he toasts to happiness, she to wealth), and had their children. Apparently, she was the great mover and shaker in his business from the beginning. Working as receptionist at his office, she directed clients to him, and made him seem like the only one who could help them.

To me, from the way it was heading, it looked like an interesting treatise on why women should work rather than living vicariously through their husbands. But of course, it may have switched gears after I started snoozing. I'd like to know how everything worked out.

[moira finnie]

Thanks, Jack, but I really wanted to see this movie since it featured one of Frances Dee's rare performances and was directed by Curtis Bernhardt--a journeyman often stuck with formulaic scripts and reluctant cast, for sure, but his movies are almost always kind of interesting to me.

A key figure who brought some lush beauty and very dark edges to weepies and a few nifty noirs, he seems to be remembered for his autocratic style, and for the number of people who did not want to work with him. Despite this, many of the people he directed did some of their most interesting work under his guidance--though the movies were hardly ever prestige vehicles. I'm thinking of:

Humphrey Bogart's terrific performance in Conflict (1945), (Bogie's character was way too close to home for the unhappily married star). Ida Lupino and Arthur Kennedy's doomed Brontes in the often hilariously inaccurate but appealing Devotion (1946), Barbara Stanwyck as the widow whose control of her emotions is killing her in My Reputation (1945). Ronald Reagan, who is actually more alive when Ann Sheridan comes near him on screen in Juke Girl (1942). Robert Taylor's tormented vet who returns to a reality he can't comprehend in High Wall (1947), and Possessed (1947) with Joan Crawford. I've no idea if it was any good, since it seems to be a "lost" film, but The Blue Veil (1951) was supposed to give great roles to Jane Wyman and Joan Blondell.

I know he'll never be a director of the month or anything, but he is interesting and I thought that Payment on Demand looked pretty good. I'll have to save my pennies to see if I can get the VOD that is available, I guess.

[CineMaven]

I recorded the movie and hope to see it in the next day or two. I can get back to you guys if you're interested. I have to get passed Barry Sullivan (not one of my faves at all) to get to Bette...but mostly to get to Frances Dee one of my all time favorites.

[JackFavell]

Barry Sullivan seemed at his most un-Barry Sullivan-ish in the first half hour of the movie, if that's any help.

[moira finnie]

I recorded the movie and hope to see it in the next day or two. I can get back to you guys if you're interested. I have to get passed Barry Sullivan (not one of my faves at all) to get to Bette...but mostly to get to Frances Dee one of my all time favorites.

That would be great, Cine.

I also find Barry Sullivan to be Mr. Reptilian most of the time--though I think he might have been a good actor in certain roles, especially in film noirs. Remember when Janis Carter got the drop on him in Framed (1947)? I almost felt sorry for the weasel. Being married to Bette Davis for a decade in Payment on Demand might have made his fate at Janis' hands seem easy by comparison. I am dying to see Suspense (1946) someday, since it is apparently the only known Ice Follies Film Noir featuring Barry Sullivan, Belita (a genuinely accomplished ballerina turned ice skater) and Bonita Granville in one loopy sounding movie. With director Frank "This Gun for Hire" Tuttle and screenwriter Philip "The Big Combo" Yordan it sounds pretty interesting. Overall I think Sullivan was really a good heavy, I guess.

I remember seeing him in a tv version of Arthur Miller's The Price when I was a kid. He was never better in a complex role as a bitter brother and son who became a policeman.

[JackFavell]

I agree about Barry's reptilian looks and personality, though I don't mind him as much as CineMaven. He's sort of like a bland Jack Palance to me. I do kind of like him sometimes, if the role is good. For me, he and Wendell Corey are neck and neck for 1st place in the "How did that guy become a movie star?" sweepstakes.

Moira, what's with you and the loopy movies lately? Or am I only now finding out that you like the bizarre?

[moira finnie]

. For me, he and Wendell Corey are neck and neck for 1st place in the "How did that guy become a movie star?" sweepstakes.

One reason for his strange success was that after years of obscurity on Broadway and the hustings, Wendell Corey had a Hal Wallis contract that ensured better roles in bigger movies--such as The File on Thelma Jordon, and The Furies. Of course, how Babs Stanwyck could have thrown Gilbert Roland to the wolves and snuggled up to Wendell afterward in The Furies completely confounds me, almost as much as when Katharine Hepburn chooses La Wendell over Burt Lancaster in The Rainmaker.

Moira, what's with you and the loopy movies lately? Or am I only now finding out that you like the bizarre?

I like to think of it as "eclectic," more than bizarre. I like obscure movies as well as true classics. Doesn't everyone?

[JackFavell]

Absolutely! I'm all for the eclectic and obscure. I think what put it over the top for me was that clip of Cary and Jack... I can't get it out of my mind.

[CineMaven]

Jack LaRue's intensity astounds me.

[mrsl]

.
I agree with Jack Favell about the connection between W. Corey and B. Sullivan in most cases, but in this one, I whole-heartedly agree with Kingrat. Barry delivers a really sound performance, and carries it through to the end. In the first 20 minutes you see Bette Davis weaving her spider-web around her daughter, and eating up the boyfriend like a fly. i.e., she's the iconic Bette in this one. You can't help but know it with the first flashback when the customer comes in, and Barry gets snookered for the first time. Again, I have to agree with Cinemaven, but I had no problem getting past Barry from the get-go because he appears fully sure of himself and sturdy as an oak because by this time he's figured Bette out. If you haven't seen it yet, I hope you do get a chance because it is a good one.
.

[CineMaven]

I sometimes have biased views about this film or that star. But I'll always be fair. When I check out "PAYMENT ON DEMAND" I promise I won't bring my bias for Barry Sullivan into my review. < Cross my heart. > Everyone has their place in films. I'm looking to seeing a different Bette Davis film.