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Specialists in lesser known programmers, 'B' unit films and TV shows, Pennsylvania-based ALPHA VIDEO is owned by Jerry Greene, founder of Collectable Records. Quality of their unrestored movie transfers varies from fair to good, based on condition of source material stock (often old 16mm broadcast prints). The only extras provided are a catalog insert and DVD-accessible title list.
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Early entry in the talkie era gangster craze is THE PAY-OFF, an RKO psychological melodrama about a mob boss gone soft for a teen girl and her 20-year-old boyfriend. They all meet after a confrontation over money stolen from the kids by one of Gene Fenmore's henchmen, a bad egg named Rocky. When they demand their cash back from the perpetrator, Gene is impressed with the spunk of these two. He unofficially adopts them both.
The youngsters are later used by Rocky as distractions during a jewelry store heist in which a jeweler is gunned down. They're arrested and charged as accessories. Things get further complicated when Gene and Rocky argue over what happened.
Despite its age and the limits of early sound recording, this one's darn good. In comparison to other pictures of its time, there's a naturalism to the actors' delivery. "Pay-Off" doesn't have the shouting staginess of
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(1931), for example. It's based on Samuel Shipman's and John B. Hymer's four act drama, "Crime," a minor Broadway hit in 1927. (Sylvia Sidney was the young girl on stage and Chester Morris the "heavy.") Definitely worth seeing!
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Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 IMDb viewer poll rating.
(6.5) The Pay-Off (1930) - Lowell Sherman/Marian Nixon/Hugh Trevor/William Janney/Helene Millard/George F. Marion
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