JohnHowardReid Producer: Norman Priggen. A Julian Wintle—Leslie Parkyn Production, presented by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy. Copyright 25 May 1962 by Lynx Films. U.S. release through Allied Artists: June 1962. New York opening (on the lower half of a double bill with Day of the Triffids) at neighborhood theaters: 10 May 1963. U.K. release through Anglo Amalgamated: 21 May 1961. Australian release (if any): Not recorded. 9,450 feet. 105 minutes. Cut to 94 and then 80 minutes in U.S.A. SYNOPSIS: Harry Parker (William Peacock) and his wife Jackie (Billie Whitelaw) have a couple of kids, are happy and are getting along fine. The future looks bright, for Harry and his partner Moore (Glyn Houston) have got the contract to carry the weekly payroll of a large company in their new, bandit-proof car — a security assignment that could lead to many more for the new two-man business. This news comes as a shock to handsome Johnny Mellors (Michael Craig). For months he has, with the help of a weak company employee, Dennis Pearson (William Lucas), tailed and timed the old car that used to do the wages run. And that's time well spent when the payroll in question is £100,000 a week.Despite the armored car, Johnny is not going to let go of the prize. His plan to grab this fortune in notes is simple and bold.COMMENT: (On the full DVD version from Optimum): They took 25 minutes out for the U.S. release and it's hard to imagine where they got this amount of slack footage from. True, Miss Prevost is somewhat lacking in color and glamour and undoubtedly some of her scenes could go without being missed, but otherwise this is a compact and excitingly staged, if predictably plotted crime melodrama, with the advantage of appropriately atmospheric actual locations in grimy Newcastle. It's competently acted, though William Lucas rather overdoes his part as a nervous clerk and Miss Whitelaw is neither photographed nor costumed to her advantage. The direction is at its best in the action spots, though sharp film editing increases the tempo of the film whenever things seem to be slowing down. And at least Mr. Craig is much less wooden than usual.

MARIO GAUCI I recall catching this as a kid on a now-defunct Sicilian TV channel; besides, my dad owns the paperback edition of the original Derek Bickerton novel (published in conjunction with the film's release). Clearly influenced by the seminal French noir RIFIFI (1955), this caper flick may not have the necessary qualities to attain equivalent classic status but it is proficiently handled nonetheless (in the recognizable style that characterized hard-hitting British cinema of the mid-1950s and beyond i.e. till the advent of the Swinging 60s). Of course, PAYROLL is highlighted by a heist sequence (meticulously planned in advance) – though, in complete contrast to the one seen in the Jules Dassin film, it is a brusque, messy and violent job! Typically, too, the gang is a very unstable outfit – Michael Craig is the brains (appropriately tough and rugged but perhaps too young to carry the requisite world-weariness of the role, he largely comes across as unsympathetic instead!), heavy-set Barry Keegan the brawn (thus the first to bite the dust), Tom Bell the hot-tempered member who even challenges Craig's leadership, Kenneth Griffith the mild-mannered nervous type who invariably sows the seeds of their downfall, and William Lucas as the obligatory 'inside man' (an exemplary employee who then snaps at the critical moment). Up to here, the plot is routine, that is to say, predictable; the film's coup, then, is in presenting two complex female figures: Francoise Prevost plays Lucas' ambitious (and obviously bored) foreign wife who flirts with Craig, strikes a bargain with him (when she realizes the nature of his association with her hubby), and whom she even tries to double-cross (though he has the last laugh); Billie Whitelaw actually starts off in the colorless role of housewife (of the payroll guard killed in the robbery) but who subsequently turns – believably – into dogged and resourceful avenger! For the record, though a police investigation into the crime is conducted, it reaps little to no results: the gang brings about its own doom through mistrust, greed and foolishness: Griffith and Bell perish in quicksand, while a dazed and exhausted Craig typically 'buys it' at the finishing line (the open sea) thanks to Whitelaw's vigilante tactics. PAYROLL, therefore, supplies the expected quota of action, thrills, hard-boiled dialogue and moody location shooting; all in all, it stands as director Hayers' most satisfying work after the splendid occult horror piece NIGHT OF THE EAGLE aka BURN, WITCH, BURN! (1962)…though I should also be re-acquainting myself presently with his rare adventure film THE TRAP (1966), whose memory has similarly been relegated thus far to a long-ago Sunday Matinée' childhood viewing on local TV.

christopher-underwood This is a very decent British crime film with some excellent moments. Tom bell carries off the part of the main baddie pretty well but I do not feel he is consistently good throughout, although this may well be shortcomings in the script, which certainly needed tightening up. I thought Billie Whitelaw rather unconvincing as mother of two and amateur sleuth, but she just about gets away with it. No, for me it is Francoise Prevost who brings this film to life. She dominates every frame she is in and the whole film seems to step up a gear. We are uncertain as to her motives and I am sure this is intended if unusual in a film such as this. Most refreshing that we should take to a character and then not really be sure whether we should be cheering or not. Shades of 'The Wire'?!! There is some fine location action and indeed it is some of the car or hideout interiors that slow the film down. Overall though, well worth a watch and something out of the ordinary.

GarryQ Most of the film's interest to me is because its nostalgia value. It's a year younger than I, and was filmed locally. The studios' horror of the working classes and their accents is shown by parachuting in a stilted 'Michael Craig' (qv) as lead. 'Billie Whitelaw' (qv)'s supporting role redeems the acting somewhat. The high tech security surrounding the payroll of the title is quaint, to say the least. This is a film about a robbery. `Heist' implies a much faster pace than this movie ever manages. Without the local nostalgia value, I wouldn't have sat thru to the end once, let alone have seen it again.