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Paid

1930

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Warner Archive DVD.MGM. 80 minutes. US release: 12/30/30.

DVD release: 4/6/10.

 

Cast: Joan Crawford (as "Mary Turner"), Robert Armstrong, Marie Prevost, Kent Douglass, Hale Hamilton, John Miljan, Purnell B. Pratt, Polly Moran, Robert Emmett O'Connor, Tyrell Davis, William Bakewell, George Cooper, Gwen Lee, Isabel Withers.

 

Credits:  From the play "Within the Law" by Bayard Veiller (which opened on Broadway on 9/11/1912 and ran for 541 performances). Adaptation: Lucien Hubbard and Charles MacArthur. Dialogue: Charles MacArthur. Director: Sam Wood. Camera: Charles Rosher. Editor: Hugh Wynn. Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons. Costume Design: Adrian. Sound: Douglas Shearer.

 

Plot Summary: Paid was the third film version of the Bayard Veiller stage play Within the Law. Joan Crawford is cast as a shopgirl falsely arrested for stealing and sent to jail for three years. She swears vengeance on the store owner (Purnell Pratt), and to that end sets up a shady but legal racket wherein she and partner Marie Prevost act as "matchmakers" for lonely old men. It's all part of a plan to fleece the store owner by placing him in a compromising position, but Joan is sidetracked when she meets the owner's son (Kent Douglass. Marrying him in order to exact revenge on his father, Crawford falls in love with the young man and abandons her scheme. But once more, Crawford is wrongly accused of a crime, this time of murder. Paid ends happily for all concerned--especially MGM, which remade this reliable property (again!) under its old title Within the Law (1939), with Ruth Hussey in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

 

Notes:

The film was shot in 31 days at a cost of $529,000 and made MGM a profit of $415,000. (Ultimate Star)

• For her services in Paid, MGM head Louis B. Mayer gave Joan a bonus of $10,000 and wrote: "In appreciation of the co-operation and excellent services rendered by you, we take great pleasure in handing you your check made payable to your order in the amount of $10,000...this does not affect the terms of your contract dated 2 November, 1928." (Ultimate Star)

• Four other versions of Paid were released, all titled Within the Law: In 1916 (silent, with Muriel Starr in the lead role), 1917 (silent, with Alice Joyce), 1923 (silent, with Norma Talmadge), and 1939 (with Ruth Hussey).

• The film was originally slated for Norma Shearer. When she became pregnant, Joan stepped in.

• Former silent star Marie Prevost co-starred with Joan and apparently the two became friends--after Marie was found dead in 1937, among her belongings was an uncashed check made out to her and signed by Joan Crawford.

• Kent Douglass, who debuted in this film as "Bob Gilder," changed his name to Douglass Montgomery for later films.

 

Thanks to Jon M. for most of the information in the last 4 Notes.

 

American Film Institute page

IMDb page

TCM page

Wikipedia page


 

Critics' Reviews:

Mordaunt Hall in the New York Times

January 3, 1931

 

Out of Bayard Veiller's highly successful play, "Within the Law," which was played in this city in 1912 and which enjoyed the distinction of being made twice in silent film form, Sam Wood has produced a vigorous talking picture, with unusually competent performances by all its players.

The events in this melodrama, now called "Paid," are not infrequently strained, but they nevertheless achieve their purpose, chiefly because of the fine work of the cast. There are sequences that have been freshened up and others that call to mind the psychological third-degree ideas of the late Inspector Byrnes. All the incidents, including the police trap laid to gather in several criminals and an innocent girl, are worked in with a certain effectiveness, even though there are moments when it looks as though the individuals on both sides of the fence are hoodwinked too easily.

To Joan Crawford falls the lot of impersonating the unfortunate and vengeful Mary Turner, who is sent to prison for three years for a crime of which she is innocent. When she is released she is introduced by another girl, also an ex-convict, to Joe Garson, who revels in ill-gotten gains. It is Mary's idea, however, that Garson and the other crooks can do better by keeping within the law. She explains that blackmailing is punished by a long prison term, but that if she and Agnes Lynch (played by Marie Prevost) can inveigle elderly philanderers into writing affectionate epistles to them and through lawyers obtain "heart balm," it is far more remunerative and without the risk of the criminal method.

Mary's aim is not to get money, but to even up counts with Edward Gilder (Purnell B. Pratt) and District Attorney Demarest (Hale Hamilton), who were responsible for putting her behind the bars. She succeeds beyond her fondest hopes, for she sets her cap at Gilder's son, Bob, and eventually marries him.

One of the lurid moments of this yarn is where the police use a stool-pigeon to spread the news that the real Mona Lisa painting is not in the Louvre, but in Gilder's home and that the old master has been smuggled into the country. Garson is further informed by the stool-pigeon that a dealer is willing to pay more than $200,000 for the painting. How the criminals go about entering the house with the police watching and how the police themselves are deceived is one of the more or less exciting parts of this story.

Subsequent scenes with third-degree flashes and the clever ideas of an inspector (John Miljan) are wrought imaginatively. At one moment the scratching of a pen on paper—which is heard from the screen—is employed to break down a suspect. And one may take it for granted that Mary Turner leads an unblemished life throughout the whole proceedings.

Robert Armstrong does splendidly as Garson. Miss Crawford and Miss Prevost are very good in their rôles. John Miljan and Mr. Hamilton are also convincing.

 

Loew's Weekly (January 17, 1931):

Joan Crawford's Role in "Paid" Surprises Fans and Critics

Star Plays First Straight Dramatic Part in Vivid Underworld Drama

 

Joan Crawford smashes her way into a new triumph as the heroine of "Paid," talkie version of "Within the Law," the famous Bayard Veiller crook drama.

 

To say her Mary Turner is the greatest role of her career is putting it mildly. The role never seems to be a piece of play-acting. Miss Crawford's Mary Turner is real.

 

Whatever promise may have been had of the star's convincing dramatic work in "Our Blushing Brides" is more than fulfilled by her brilliant characterization of the shopgirl, railroaded to prison, who emerges with but one burning desire, to get revenge.

 

Briefly, the plot of "Paid" concerns a working girl, "framed" and sent to jail for robbery, who plots revenge on society and on the man who had her incarcerated, only to fall in love with his son. A gang killing brings the plot to a climax.

 

Robert Armstrong, of "Is Zat So?" fame, heads the imposing supporting cast. Kent Douglass, noted for his work on the stage in "Caprice," has the romantic lead.

 

Marie Prevost, who last played in "War Nurse," is cast in the role of Aggie, and John Miljan is Inspector Burke. Others in the cast are Robert Emmet O'Connor, William Bakewell, George Cooper and Gwen Lee. Sam Wood directed the production.

 

 

Screenland (March 1931):

 

 


 

Our Reviews:

If you've seen Paid and would like to share your review here, please e-mail me. Include a picture of yourself or avatar to accompany your review, as well as a star-rating (with 5 stars the best) and any of your favorite lines from the film.

 

 

Stephanie Jones, site creator.Stephanie Jones (November 2022)

Rating: star02_pink.gifstar02_pink.gifstar02_pink.gif of 5

 

Given the progressive "corrupt powers-that-be" theme of this film (back when "progressive" and "speaking truth to power" were a GOOD thing and not the travesty of Marxism imposed upon us post-2016) and Joan's very good performance in her first dramatic role, I almost gave this 4 stars, but had to pull back primarily because of the last half-hour or so of the film, which devolved into a hackneyed "theft of the Mona Lisa" plot and got a bit tedious and repetitive. (The film is listed at 86 minutes, but my 2010 Warners Archive DVD version ran on for almost a solid 2 hours/120 mins.)

 

Joan plays "Mary Turner," a shop-girl falsely accused of theft by the owner of the store where she worked, who refuses to show her mercy at her sentencing. When she gets 3 years in prison (after being represented by a young, inexperienced attorney), she promises intensely as she's hauled away: "You're going to pay me for everything I'm losing in life!" Joan is great in this opening trial scene, with her scrubbed, gaunt face and glowing eyes rimmed with black hollows. It's a precursor to an even-more powerful scene in 1932's Rain when she condemns the Reverend Davidson.

 

Equally well-done are the brief, compelling prison scenes that follow, with their quick cuts among some of the motley crew Mary is thrown in with. And for a 1930 white audience, I'm sure a white woman having to shower with -- gasp! -- a black woman might have been considered especially degrading, though the uncredited Louise Beavers is friendly and funny: "Don't worry, honey. It all goes down the drain."

 

In prison while shoveling slop, Mary meets "Aggie" (Marie Prevost), whose criminal gang Mary ultimately joins up with once released from prison, given no other chance for survival. The comic Aggie and gang-boss Joe (Robert Armstrong), et al, are all fair-play fellows. Mary initially offers to sleep with Joe (pre-Code, you know), but he declines, because he realizes she's not really a floozy. But, as it turns out, Mary has something to contribute: While in prison, she studied the law: She wants revenge on her old boss, but has learned the legal niceties of blackmailing, etc., that are all "within the law," which she is willing to share with her new gang. First up is the blackmailing of a general (with the 30-ish Aggie posing as a 14-year-old), followed by...Mary intentionally hooking up with the playboy son of the store owner who had her jailed. Bob Gilder (Kent Douglass) is a rather naive rich boy whom Mary first disdains but also actually loves.

 

The son is only a key to the main theme of the film: The corruption of the police and District Attorney, who are beholden to their moneyed interests rather than to Truth and Justice. In 1930, there wasn't yet such a thing as "Noir," but this film is definitely a forerunner to that dark genre---as well as being a call to social justice (again, not in the false way being promoted in the media post-2016, but for actual social justice). In this film, the rich store-owner father blatantly pays off the District Attorney and his inspectors to harrass people at will, even when not warranted. Mary's gang, for instance, is only hounded by the law because the father wants to keep her away from his son. Once it's revealed that she's paid for a very high-priced lawyer, the District Attorney and the police slink off.

 

Amid this early Noir/Social Justice theme is Joan, with her initial jail-bird gaunt persona, and then her post-jail be-gowned, be-jeweled, be-furred persona. She's beautifully defiant in both roles. Aside from the initial courtroom scene, she's also especially attractive and persuasive in the scene where she arrives for a party with son Bob at his father's house. Her new glamorous look has changed so much post-jail that the father doesn't recognize her. When she identifies herself, she's immediately surrounded by the father, DA, police inspector, and sergeant, who all barrage her with accusations. She, solo amid their onslaught, is completely cool and collected and returns their harsh volleys---not just a script thing but also an ability of the actress involved. Just one scene later, she's attacked again, with the DA accusing: "She didn't even get time off for good behavior!" To which Mary replies: "No, and I'm proud of it. Do you realize what goes on behind stone walls?"

 

Joan, for the first time, plays a serious grown woman here. Not a side-piece, not a party girl. But a real woman confronted with real problems. Aside from the usual early mouth contortions, which are somewhat contained here, she's both moving and subtle, especially in her scenes with the young Bob Gilder, when she's portraying feelings of both love and desire for revenge. And the confrontation scenes are just plain moving and near-great. Director Sam Wood also offers us many close-ups of Joan's beautiful, very interesting face. Not just looking pretty, but also in intense mode. (Up to this point, I'd seen Garbo, et al, in full-screen "languishing" mode, but no one ever looking disgruntled!)

 

As I said above, the last half-hour of the film devolves into a rather stereotypical and tedious "art theft and shootout and interrogation" series of events, which seemed to go on way too long. "Who shot who," etc., didn't really seem to be the point of the film, aside from more fully emphasizing the corruption of the DA's office.

 

And I just have to mention: Near the end of the film, there's a brief scene where Joan's Mary is being interrogated. Mary says: "Would you please take that light out of my eyes---it's driving me crazy!"----Said Joan NEVER! :)

 

 


 

Tom C.  (September 2022)

Rating: star02_pink_1.gifstar02_pink_1.gifstar02_pink_1.gifstar02_pink_1.gif of 5

As much as I love her early work, Joan Crawford is not the first name that springs to mind when I think of pre-Code actresses. Barbara Stanwyck, Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins, a young Carole Lombard before her talent for screwball comedy was discovered, or even Helen Twelvetrees --- yes. JC? Not so much. Perhaps it’s because my mind tends to equate MGM with glitz and glamour productions rather than the gritty, booze- and crime-riddled plots that proliferated in the period between the advent of talkies in the late 1920s and full enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code on July 1, 1934.

Paid (1930), however, is quintessential pre-Code. Joan is Mary Turner, a shopgirl sent up the river for 3 years for a crime she did not commit. While in the pen, she studies the law and after her release, Joan/Mary teams up with a bunch of shady characters to form an extortion racket. The crew preys on old codgers with an eye for young ladies, and although blackmail, everything is technically “within the law” --- the name of the play by Bayard Veiller that is the source material for Paid. “Within the Law” can be found online via Project Gutenberg; I found that reading it helped fill in some aspects of the movie that I did not follow upon my initial viewing of Paid.

One can easily imagine the surprise of her fans when Joan first appears a few minutes into Paid, in the excellent opening court scene. Joan is made up plainly, clad in homespun clothes, and is dragged from the courtroom spewing venom at her unfeeling accusers, vowing to get even with them. As America and the world settled into the first year of the Great Depression, one assumes that Mary’s struggle against the establishment resonated well with the audience. Indeed, Paid was a huge financial success for MGM.

Paid has a great team behind the scenes. Perhaps because it was originally slated to be a Norma Shearer flick? Cedric Gibbons does the sets, Sam Wood (Pride of the Yankees, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Beyond the Rocks --- the only film pairing of Swanson and Valentino) directs, Douglas Shearer --- Norma’s bro --- did the sound. Charles Rosher was cinematographer. Shearer and Rosher were pioneers in their respective trades; the latter was for many years the cameraman for America’s Sweetheart and Joan’s step-MIL Mary Pickford.

The team in front of the camera is also very good. I particularly like Marie Prevost as Joan’s wisecracking partner in crime, Aggie. Joe Garson is played well by King Kong’s buddy, Robert Armstrong. Garson is a member of Mary’s gang and a love interest, at least until she decides to exact her revenge upon the rich store owner, Purnell Pratt, who accused her of thievery by marrying his son, played by Douglass Montgomery. Montgomery is OK here; he had a mostly undistinguished career, but got to support many of the most luminous ladies of the 30s --- Joan, Swanson, Kate Hepburn, Connie Bennett, Helen Chandler (Bela Lugosi's obsession in 1931s Dracula). John Miljan is deliciously over the top as Inspector Burke. George Cooper as Red adds a little levity to the otherwise heavy proceedings.

Paid occupies an important position in the Crawford filmography, as it is her first dramatic role in the talkie era and only her 4th talkie. Does Joan show the depth and breadth of acting prowess she did later during her heyday? No, but Paid showed there was more to Crawford than a superficial Jazz Baby. Since the studio system was in full force, Louie B. Mayer mostly kept her in tear jerkers and shopgirl-makes-good melodramas, all the while looking fabulous in Adrian gowns and paired with Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, etc. These movies were what her fans wanted to see --- or what LBM thought they wanted to see --- and were financially successful, not something to be taken lightly during the depths of the Great Depression. I think the quote goes something like: Norma gets the prestige projects, Garbo does the art, and Joan Crawford pays for it all. Perhaps, but Joan kept upping her game as an actress after Paid, pushing for edgier material --- Rain (1932) comes to mind most immediately. Perhaps most importantly, I think that by doing this movie Joan proved to herself, the studio, and the public that, aside from being just a pretty face, she could also be a serious and acclaimed actress.

 

 


 

Mike O'Hanlon  (October 2007)

Rating: star02_pink.gifstar02_pink.gifstar02_pink.gifstar02_pink.gif - 1/2 of 5

 

If Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer deserved Oscar nominations for Romance (1930) and Their Own Desire (1929), Joan Crawford deserved four nominations alone for her work in Paid (1930). She’s excellent; natural in her approach to the character, and keeping the underlying emotions always visible to viewers. The story, based on the play Within the Law by Bayard Veiller, gives her an ample amount of room to prove herself the dramatic equivalent of her MGM rivals.

 

What’s ironic about her greatness is that it is smack in the middle of her immature mannerisms, which destroyed her early talking films. Her habit of sucking on her cheeks, bulging her eyes, and nodding her head would have chewed up every reel of The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929) –- a film she wanted to desperately to make. In Paid, however, those obnoxious mannerisms disappear. Maybe the maturity of sound also might have matured Joan’s acting ability? But it makes one question how she managed to give lousy performances after this achievement. Maybe she was determined to prove herself?

 

One thing I have always liked about MGM’s early talking films is there is this grittiness to them that just makes sitting through all the static enjoyable. Before the studio glossed over every one of its stars with a watered down-waxed-publicity gimmick, we had the chance to see them in a much more raw portrayal. It’s a moment worth wallowing in nearly eight decades later.

 

In the opening scenes, we see Joan in costume make up to give the appearance of a young girl who has been emotionally drained by the rough times. This was the Great Depression, and when Joan describes how she works hours and hours for meager pay and all the other set backs that go with poverty, one’s heart goes out for her.

 

Considering this was originally purchased for Norma Shearer, I’m still glad Joan got the chance to make it. Joan was far more suited for the role than Norma ever would have been, especially after Norma's sexual triumphs in The Divorcee and Let Us Be Gay (both 1930). While both Joan and Norma get over criticized and dismissed by film historians, when one watches a movie like Paid, it’s refreshing for fans to see how far writers will go to undermine to accomplishments of both ladies.

 

In retrospect, Joan undoubtedly should have received an Oscar nomination for her excellent work in this film. It’s a great example of her determination, and reinvention from immature flapper, to excellent dramatic Actress.

 

 


 

Jon M. (January 2005)

Rating: star02_pink.gifstar02_pink.gifstar02_pink.gifstar02_pink.gif of 5

 

Paid is an early talking film (her 5th) for star Joan Crawford. The film is an important one for her since it's a straight drama and signals an end of her "Dancing Daughter" days. Up until that point Joan appeared in much lighter fare singing or dancing and maybe falling in love. This particular film changed all of that -- just in time, too, since the depression was just beginning and audiences were tiring of musicals. In 1930 the number 1 box office star in the U.S. was Joan Crawford -- Paid is one reason why.

The story starts off strong with "Mary Turner" (Joan) being sentenced and sent to the pen for stealing from the department store where she works -- of course she is innocent. In jail she meets up with "Agnes" and agrees to look her up when she's out. Upon release she hooks up with "Aggie" and her gang and persuades them to "act within the law" in their future pursuits.

Mary becomes the new leader of the group and they find success doing things her way- -she is also carrying on a romance which leads to marriage with "Bob," who is the accuser's son. This makes the story very interesting.  Later on the gang gets greedy and falls for a set up; the cops want to catch them all, especially Mary.

The quality of this film is quite good considering its age and the sound technology of the time. A few early scenes are a little creaky, but once the plot kicks in things pick up considerably. Joan for one proves herself a convincing dramatic actress and at times her performance still looks contemporary. Robert Armstrong is also very good as a bad guy that isn't that bad after all. One entertaining scene is when gang member "Aggie" (Marie Prevost) is called into the police station to give statements -- she poses as a society girl and tells the inspector to "call my father and then plan your vacation." She soon is discovered and reverts back to her ordinary "Brooklyn" accent and admits defeat. Marie Prevost could easily have had a more successful career judging from her work in this film.
 

Memorable lines:

"Don't worry, honey, it all goes down the drain."  Louise Beavers to Joan in the shower.

"Then you'll join Aggie and see the world."  Marie Prevost to Joan in jail.

"Four years ago you took my name and replaced it with a number; now I've taken that number and replaced it with your name."  Joan to Purnell Platt.

 "Call my father and then plan your vacation."  Marie Prevost to the inspector.

 

 

 


 

Movie Posters:

        

US.          Sweden.

 

 

 


 

Lobby Cards:

 

    

 

    US lobby card.

 

 


 

Misc. Images:

 

US novelization cover.

 

Above:  US movie tie-in novelization. See the Books Related to Joan Movies page for more info.

 

Below (row 1):  US herald.   Below (row 2):  Uruguayan herald.

 

US herald.    US herald. 

 

A herald from Uruguay.      Uruguayan herald.     Uruguayan herald.

 

 

Below:  US newspaper ads

 

US newspaper ad.     West Virginia (US) newspaper ad.      New York City newspaper ad.      US newspaper ad.      US newspaper ad.

 

 

Below:  New Jersey handbill and West Coast exhibitor bulletin; at right, a US glass theater slide.

 

3/16/30 'Paid' handbill from Keyport, New Jersey.       1930 West Coast exhibitor bulletin.      

 

 


 

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