The Pay Off (1942) CRIME NOIR

Stars: Lee Tracy, Tom Brown, Tina Thayer, and Pat Costello
Director: Arthur Dreifuss
The city's District Attorney is murdered, and a newspaper reporter investigates. He starts finding out that everything wasn't quite as cut and dried as it appeared to be. Watch for Pat Costello, older brother of film comic Lou.

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Noir designation should be reserved for a very specialized genre of of film. Double Indemnity, Detour, The Killing, quintessential film noir where the plot takes an unexpected turn that the main characters never expected. This movie is simply a farcical murder mystery.

[@ktatlow]

Stupendous amount of dialogue in 71 minutes. I hope the writers were paid by the word.

[@sylviafrank8302]

Love Lee Tracy.. An actor's actor that did not gain the respect and admiration he richly deserved.. Wonderful vocal prowess, commanding presence on screen, an under appreciated treasure right up to his final film.. The Best Man.

[@chriscooper3117]

Howard Green That's absolutely right!

[@RealGRRRLz69]

You are 100% correct. Actors like Lee Tracy, Wallace Ford, George E. Stone and Stuart Erwin were underappreciated.

[@leelarson107]

@@RealGRRRLz69 I'll go along with that.

[@valeriebingham1483]

How I love and enjoy these movies. Thank you!

[@Alan-rh1el]

Fast talking and fast moving crime thriller very enjoyable.Thanks for posting.

[@xmaseveeve5259]

Thank you for making it loud enough.

[@amgrumm]

Fun to watch a second time. Some good choreagraphy

[@shelleymcafee8197]

I enjoyed that, love films of this type - from this era; Thank-You!!

[@gregorypalmer5403]

This is no junk! Could it have been better? Yeah; but some great material here, some of the acting and some of the dialogue. I don't know whether Tracy could play any other role than Wise Acre but he sure was good at it ! A tour de force here.

[@PizzaFLIX]

Hi GP, Thanks for watching PizzaFLIX. May the Sauce be with you. 🍕🍕🍕

[@DavidRice111]

No one loves old B&W movies more than I, but this was a stinker.

[@earlwest3502]

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and thank you for providing this interesting film!! It was very entertaining and decent displayed screen resolution appreciated. Thank you!!

[@TSGeorgieGirl]

Never knew Lou Costello had a brother Pat.

[@PizzaFLIX]

@ George K --Pat is the older brother of film comic Lou Costello. A stuntman and actor, he often doubled for Lou in many Abbott and Costello films. His biggest onscreen role came as a plain-clothes policeman in the Abbott and Costello film Mexican Hayride (1948). Outlived his younger brother by over thirty years.

[@1LSWilliam]

Great dialogue and nostalgia.

[@terrymoore5000]

I just love 💕 all these old movies 🎥🍿🙂

[@concert_rat1004]

That man’s voice goes thru my head like a nail.

[@aadamtx]

I thought the fat newspaperman (the one who wouldn't leave the apartment) sounded and looked like Lou Costello - that's PAT Costello, Lou's older brother!

[@tomhefner6344]

thanks for the heads up

[@jaynecampbell4396]

"You cheated me with the truth" LOL. ;)

[@browill9]

Outstanding! Thanks for sharing 👍 😊

[@SuperIliad]

The Pay Off, released 24 November 1942 (USA). Lee Tracy as Brad McKay; Tom Brown as Guy Norris; Tina Thayer as Phyllis Walker; Evelyn Brent as Alma Dorn; Jack La Rue as John Angus; Ian Keith as Inspector Thomas; Robert Middlemass as Lester Norris; John Maxwell as Moroni; John Sheehan as Sergeant Brenen; Harry C. Bradley (as Harry Bradley) as Dr. Steele ; Forrest Taylor as Hugh Walker; Pat Costello as Pat - Reporter; Roy Butler, Desk Clerk / Henchman; Dick Gordon, Gambling House Patron; Bill Hunter, Pete - Night Club Bouncer; Jack Kenney, Gambling House Cashier; Carl M. Leviness, Typist; Tony Martelli, Croupier; Merrill McCormick, Detective; 'Snub' Pollard as Stubby - Cab Driver; Arthur Thalasso, Police Officer; Herb Vigran, Reporter.

[@leelarson107]

John, all of that is available right off of the credits and the IMDb site.

[@SuperIliad]

@@leelarson107 Not your fault, but I'm tired of explaining the three or four main reasons I do this.

[@BernieDowling]

Pat Costello looks a lot like comedian Lou Costello of Abbott and Costello. That's because they were brothers.

[@scarygary-qq1pj]

SuperIliad: Umm...Yeah, we got that.

[@scarygary-qq1pj]

5:54 "Talkin' about hips, I gotta call my wife". 😅

[@persesrathert8324]

So good! Thank you so much!!

[@laurierarch7875]

Thank you PF, great movie.

[@ginogino3551]

"-You better got it a psychiatrist- -don't be scared- -will be loving like your mother-" What a line.

[@elmagodelmaryahoo]

As noted below, by no means particularly a "Noir" film, with essentially none of Noir's defining "elements". But definitely an entertaining, "pure 30s / early 40s" style *B Movie* that _blends_ the era's use of frivolous humor and comical police portrayals, with Larger Criminality Suspense = *Well Worth* an equally Frivolous viewing!! 👌 *THX* PizzaFlix.... and I'm sincerely glad that you've managed to "navigate" your way thru KZbin Hoops.....

[@HappyHarryHardon]

Anything with Lee Tracy in it I watch!

[@susanfaulkner2304]

Notice when the picture is taken off the wall, look on the back, no bullet hole!

[@videox222ify]

thanks for posting

[@marywilliams9858]

videox222ify Great movie. Love the men's hats. However, my father did not wear a hat and we were brought up in the fifties.

[@jeffolsen4983]

Good flick. Thanks!

[@pattythacker5916]

Very Good Movie!! Keep down loading please 😊Thank You!!

[@DavidRice111]

Patty~ That's "uploading", dear...

[@HoTrEtArDeDcHiXx]

Way back in the day, when it was OK to be drunk, as long as you were always drunk

[@michaelwertzy9808]

That's how I never get a hangover. I ain't drunk, I'm just drinkin'

[@deborahleone4351]

H o t r e t a r d e d c h i X LOL! LOL! 😂😂 like when it was cool to smoke.....fanciest ashtrays in the world! God bless you!😘🙏🙋‍♀️

[@rogerscottcathey]

How foreboding that opening muzak was!

[@EvolvedJewel]

Love this!!!

[@billybob9961]

Fun movie thank you

[@waderaney7]

Excellent ☺

[@mistatimbotim]

Pizzaflx...your collection is water to a man in the Sahara mucho thanks Tim Bo tim

[@reynaldovalle1773]

wow what a great movie.....

[@annebellette201]

Good movie thank you

[@joeydog999]

Dear Lord, doesnt that guy ever shut up? Had to leave couldnt take his running mouth.

[@keithharvey7230]

Lee Tracy was famous for his big mouth.

[@nickmad887]

thanks

[@marycope]

What a fine movie, and you can DRINK 🍹 TOO THAT .....LOL💃

[@kaya6940]

cheers

[@RONWOLPA]

In the attempt to be funny Lee Tracy becomes boring. This is not a film-noir. Breathless long before the ending. Thanks anyway for this post.

[@leelarson107]

You have to understand the context of the times. This was 80 years ago, and society was a lot different then, before 'political correctness' became the official state religion.

[@lesscobrandeau2451]

Not really "Noir" but a fun little B crime flick. Thanx PF.

[@annclark4625]

I started watching these movies since the lockdown. What exactly is noir? I can always wiki it, but I don't trust anything on that site.

[@lesscobrandeau2451]

@@annclark4625 I agree with the sentiment on wiki but for this question you pose, it is still useful and gives a fair account of what is considered Film Noir. More than can be done here in yt comments. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir

[@leelarson107]

Why the preoccupation with defining 'noir'?

[@DateTwoRelate]

On one side of Lee Tracy during the card game in the first 10 minutes of the film is the uncredited Herb Vigran who many may remember for his years on Gunsmoke. I first ran into him as a bad guy in The Adventures of Superman. PS For not even REPUBLIC wanting to take a chance of Tracy, PRC was the only one to take a chance on him - he of the greatest bridge burners.

[@roberttelarket4934]

He was also on I Love Lucy!

[@90FF1]

Another good one with sultry Evelyn Brent. Huba huba

[@gavinstockton4805]

Excellent film, thanks PizzaFlix

[@carmeladee1933]

Hi pizza fix. A lapse in memory is called forgetfullness..squirrelly or plain odd

[@carmeladee1933]

In the fifties it was a social disease and then with the advent of psychology and the influence of Freud it was called neurotic

[@danielyoung6630]

LEE TRACY MY HERO!

[@chriscooper3117]

Daniel Young He was a great actor and a likeable character.

[@DavidRice111]

Wonder who dressed Tina Thayer in this film? She already has no neck, and then she has all that fluffy hair and topped it off with such a stupid looking hat!

[@leelarson107]

The no-neck look was the first thing I noticed. And yes, the hat is horrible, as many hats were in movies of that time.

[@earlwest3502]

Jeez. Give her a break.

[@DavidRice111]

@@earlwest3502 Happy to do it if she was a store clerk, but she put herself in our eye as a "movie star", so she has to take the critique.

[@amgrumm]

Absolutely fun

[@LordRustyMcAlpin]

Oh my one hundred million who took the payoffs. Follow the money.

[@jaynecampbell4396]

I was right. The CHIEF is no good...except in people's memories. :)

[@Alanoffer]

The little reporter pat Costello , is the other half of the soon to be famous Abbot and Costello ,

[@Retroscoop]

This really didn't age very well. But I loved the funny hat with feather of the girl, so different from today's ripped jeans and piercings and whatever the womenfolk are wearing to be 'stylish' and 'hip'

[@neilangus4401]

Just listen to the boogie woogie

[@aaronkross9717]

real stuff.

[@dariowiter3078]

Ian Keith and Evelyn Brent...two former silent film performers, I see. 😁

[@leelarson107]

Ian Keith was great in 'Dangerous Corner' (1934), and Evelyn Brent was great anytime.

[@gregorypalmer5403]

@@leelarson107 Agree. And neither had voice problems for talkies. Brent, actually, was in a whole bunch of talkies. Said by many then to be a " Man Hater" and maybe that's what did her career in. I have also heard that she had a habit of walking away from things including mainstream Hollywood and , understandably imo , got the cold shoulder later in life when she needed money and was looking for work. Hence this flick for PRC and at least one other one I think PRC, " Lady of the Tongs" I think it was. I have always thought she was a great beauty and a good actor. Ditto for Keith's acting. Looks I leave to others !

[@gregorypalmer5403]

@@leelarson107 Also see Keith in The Preview Murder Mystery, a Robt. Florey - Karl Struss gem disguised as a Paramount " B" programmer..

[@roberttelarket4934]

Good movie but should not really be classified as noir - too much comedy

[@marywilliams9858]

I hate moustaches. They make someone hard to luoread.

[@suzieqwonder3089]

Mary Williams ...hard to what?

[@gavinreid8351]

@@suzieqwonder3089 Lou Reed. .......or lip read.

[@suzieqwonder3089]

gavin Reid or gavin Reid! (I know ~ She needs to lip read!)

[@bludaisiestarlite7626]

Mary Williams , I hate moustaches too. Never kissed a guy with a stache,ugh! Poirot's stache is magnifique, though

[@leelarson107]

If you don't like them, then don't grow one!

[@-oiiio-3993]

Nice 1935 Cadillac at 33:49

[@leelarson107]

Try to find anything of that quality today.

[@soniavadnjal7553]

Is the shooter missing a finger? Very sinister somehow.

[@leelarson107]

I tried to see what you mean about that, and the image is too blurred to make out. But yes, it does look like one of his fingers is messed up.

[@benjamlnlewis6836]

Lee Tracy's voice most annoying.

[@leelarson107]

You're here by your own choice.

[@-oiiio-3993]

36:50 - Let's take the Lincoln!

[@bertharuiz1225]

Ok!

[@neilangus4401]

Sensational movies made in the second world war Just to keep everyone sane

[@brandaccount7124]

Dear Pizza Flicks Look at @14:23 the guy on the right is a very young Jack Lemon for sure. Let me know Thx as usual!

[@lostandfound459]

Not..

[@leelarson107]

That was Tom Brown (1913-1990). Jack Lemmon (1925-2001). The film was made in 1942, thus Lemmon would have had to have been 17 at the time. He graduated from Phillips Andover Academy (High School) in 1943.

[@keithharvey7230]

No way you plonker.

[@LOUIEbsm]

Dopey flick- 5/10.....

[@wb1644]

The only ridiculous parts about these movies, they allow women who mean harm, to walk away, and they fall in love with women who wants to kill them.

[@trukeesey8715]

Hollywood surely wanted to goad Americans to play poker.

[@greggi47]

It has charm. Not really NOIR, though" except for the detective's pipe, there's no smoking except for one cigarertte lit, then stubbed out pronto.

[@CosmosNut]

screwball, not noir!

[@leelarson107]

Thank you. Our enjoying the film is totally dependent upon your own definition of it.

[@ravindrasinghbhambral9325]

non-sensical- pity such acting

[@leelarson107]

Go back to Calcutta and see how they do it there. Rama Rama Krishna Raama-laama-ding-dong.

[@scarygary-qq1pj]

BAWLywood.😭

[@williewashington8593]

mooll libbg6 ih

[@leelarson107]

Klaatu Barada Nikto.

[@scarygary-qq1pj]

Men juda ozginna Uzbekcha bilaman.🇺🇿

[@danielraymadden]

This movie is insultingly debasing not fit for intelligent minds...horrible script and dialogue.....

[@jerrynuelle3254]

Definitely not Noir...Too much dialogue and tail chasing.

[@PizzaFLIX]

How about Murder Mystery?

[@dday9257]

I wonder why a lot of these male actors were not fighting the war at the time instead of playing pretend.

[@bigguyusa193]

Well in Tracy's case, he was over 40 when the war started and draft limits were 35.

[@leelarson107]

How about YOU, 'D-Day'? Were you ever in the service? Were you born back when? Or were you born yesterday?

[@dday9257]

@@leelarson107 I was born after the war was over but some of my family was killed during WWll in Europe that’s why I was wondering smart ass.

[@leelarson107]

@@dday9257 In the event of war, most men do not go into the military. Of those in the military, most do not see front-line service. Of those in the front lines, that's the risk one takes. **No one said that Life was fair. I learned that by being a smart ass rather than a dumb ass like yourself.

[@keithharvey7230]

@@leelarson107 Bet you avoided the American civil war.Don't get me started on the Crimea!