Joan Gets Paid

Mary Turner (Joan Crawford) is sentenced to three years in prison after being unjustly convicted of theft by her employer, store magnate Edward Gilder (Purcell B. Pratt). When Mary is released, she is unable to find a job, and so begins a blackmail racket with Joe Garson (Robert Armstrong). She has returned from prison with three goals in life: make money, stay out of prison, and revenge herself on Gilder. Gilder’s son Bob (Kent Douglass) presents an easy target for the last goal. This week, we’ll discuss Paid (1930).

This is a film that begins well. It starts at a good pace; the story is clearly laid out, and the scenes flow easily from one to the other. And then we get to the end, which is slow to the point of inertia. Scene after scene tell the same story, and there is no good reason why we need to see every character questioned by the police over and over. The film manages to cover Mary's prison time concisely. We wished that the conclusion had done the same thing.

Mary Turner uses the knowledge she gained about the law to fulfill her first two goals - to make money and stay out of jail. The schemes that Joe and Agnes Lynch (Marie Prevost) devise work just this side of the law - have Agnes become the paramour of an older, rich man; get plenty of evidence in the form of love letters; inform said man that Agnes is under-age and expects marriage. The money flows in, and they are technically not blackmailing the man.  Joan Crawford is excellent as a woman who goes from a poorly paid clerk, to an inmate who uses her prison time to read up on the law; to a sophisticated criminal. Her training in silent films serves her well; with just a hint in her eyes, she is able to convey all the information the audience needs. 

Ms. Crawford badly wanted this part - she'd been making a career playing flappers, and she wanted a role with meat on it. But producer Irving Thalberg intended the part for his wife, Norma Shearer. Luckily for Ms. Crawford, Ms. Shearer became pregnant just before filming began, and Ms. Crawford actively pursued the role again, convincing Mr. Thalberg to give her a chance. She even insisted on doing the prison scenes without makeup to make them more convincing.  It paid off - the success of the movie assured her of continued dramatic parts (TCM article).

We've had mixed reactions to Kent Douglass (aka Douglass Montgomery) in two other films of his that we've viewed.  This was his first film, and he is so much more comfortable here than he was in Waterloo Bridge (1931). Certainly, Bob is far less naive than Roy Cronin, and perhaps that is the issue. Bob is a more realistic character, and Mr. Douglass plays him that way. Sure, Bob is a tad innocent, but he deals with the issues forced on him truthfully and with determination.

Joe, however, is really more caricatured. He's a loose cannon and prone to violence, making him his own worst enemy. Quite frankly, he doesn't really have the nerve to be a swindler. Without Mary there to calm him, he would blow the scheme and end up in prison. Robert Armstrong does a decent job with the character but he's not given a lot to work with. Mr. Armstrong is best remembered as Carl Denham in King Kong (1933). He had served in the army in World War I, and returned to take up acting, first in London and then in silents. He transitioned to sound films easily, though he primarily worked in character parts, westerns, and  B films. By the 1950s, he moved to television, appearing in shows such as Cheyenne, Have Gun - Will Travel, and Wagon Train. Married four times, his last marriage, to Claire Louise Frisbie lasted from 1940 until his death (from cancer) in 1973. His lifelong friend, Merian C. Cooper (the producer of King Kong) died 16 hours after Mr. Armstrong.

The McGuffin concerning the Mona Lisa in the latter half of the film is actually based on truth (AFI catalog). The  painting was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and not found until 1913. That the painting now back in the museum is not the original (and that the real Mona Lisa is in some wealthy collector's private room) has been posited on more than one occasion.  

This was the fourth version of Within the Law, the play on which the film is based.  It started as a stage play on Broadway in 1912. In 1916, it was a short, starring Muriel Starr and a full length version starring Alice Joyce in 1917. This was followed by  a 1923 version (with Norma Talmadge); in 1928, the play was revived on Broadway, with Claudette Colbert as Agnes.  Following our version, the story was filmed again in 1939, with Ruth Hussey as Mary. The story was also done twice in India (as Intaquam (1969) and Pagabattina Paduchu (1971).

If you are willing to put up with the boring bits of the second act to see Joan Crawford, we recommend this - you can always fast forward through some of the police interrogation.  In the meantime, we'll leave you with this scene from the film's opening: