"Payment Deferred" is, to my mind at least, something of an anomaly; a pennydreadful murder melodrama that appears to have been transmuted, almost intact, from its stage origins onto the silver screen. What makes the movie fascinating is the degree to which the estimable cast utilizes the gestural and vocal histrionics of stage acting in a cinematic context. Whether this was a conscious choice on the part of the director, Lothar Mendes or whether the over-the-top filmscript simply encouraged the frenzied scenery chewing that ensues, is debatable. But, alas, it doesn't quite add up. All the actors (and they are good ones, too) pitch into their parts as if they're being urged, offscreen, to "play to the balcony." But a movie isn't a live play and the shrieking, the sobbing and the swank of guilt and remorse that might play before theatrical footlights and a live audience seem both affected and slightly risible here. I have a very high regard for Charles Laughton, and his yawps and bellows in this movie are certainly not boring to watch, but -- by the end of the movie -- I found myself unable to muster up either belief in his character (let alone the other characters) nor emotional catharsis at the end to which he comes. And melodrama (whether live or filmed) that fails to tug on our emotions is, for lack of a better term, failure.

In "Payment Deferred", Charles Laughton plays a mousy bank employee in severe financial crisis. In fact, unless he clears up his debts FAST, his boss has threatened to fire him. However, when his nephew from Australia (Ray Milland) shows up soon after, Laughton thinks he can get some money from this rich young man to bail him out of his problems. But Laughton comes on WAY too strong and frightens Milland--and there's no way he'll help Laughton. So, on the spur of the moment, Laughton offers Milland some poisoned whiskey and then robs his corpse--thus alleviating his debts.At this point, I thought the movie was very good. However, during the next portion of the film, Laughton's character is very inconsistent--one minute paranoid and on edge and the next, cold and at ease. To me this is a serious problem because he also goes from loving husband to unfaithful jerk--and it seemed more a plot device than anything else since it was not consistent with his character. And much of this final portion of the film was very good (such as what happened to his wife) some was pretty bad (emotionally he was a yo-yo--too much so). Frankly, his performance seemed, at times, over-the-top.I enjoyed "Payment Deferred" and do recommend it. However, I couldn't help but see a few shortcomings in this film because a dozen years later, Charles Laughton made another similar film but it was so much better. Unlike "Payment Deferred", "The Suspect" was perfect...or darn close. The biggest differences was that in "The Suspect" the audience really likes Laughton's character--he's a very good person who just happens to kill people--people that REALLY need it and you feel he is morally justified for his actions. However, in "Payment Deferred", Laughton is just an evil and selfish man--and the audience is NOT drawn to like him. My advice is see "The Suspect" and, if you are still inclined, try "Payment Deferred".

Payment Deferred (1932)*** (out of 4) A bank clerk (Charles Laughton) decides to kill his rich nephew (Ray Milland) so that he can steal his wallet and pay off his families debt, which is about to put them in the poor house. After the murder Laughton sends his wife (Dorothy Peterson) and daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) on a trip and enters an affair. This is a rather interesting film, which has certainly been forgotten over the years but it's tale of a father murdering due to becoming poor might work just as good today as it did in 1932. The film is based on a famous play and for the most part the film plays out like you'd see it on stage but this is also a weakness as there's way too much talk going on. The screenplay seems to bounce back and forth from a serious drama to a crime film and even at times coming off like a black comedy. Laughton turns in a very good performance, although he does take it a bit over the top at times. You'll notice this whenever he begins to freak out that someone is going to find the body that he's buried in his back yard. This part of his performance might lend itself to the black comedy aspect. Milland doesn't have much of a role as he gets killed off rather early on but he's playing that jerk of a bad guy that we'd see him play throughout his career. O'Sullivan has a pretty thankless role but it's nice seeing her anyways.

At a time when so very few stage actors got to recreate their parts for the screen we are fortunate that MGM acquired Payment Deferred and Irving Thalberg wanted Charles Laughton enough to borrow him from Paramount and Adolph Zukor who had brought him to Hollywood on the strength of his performance in Payment Deferred. The play is adaption by Jeffrey Dell based on a novel by C.S. Forrester who is better known for such historical novels as the Horatio Hornblower series.The play originated in Great Britain and Laughton created the role of the father on the stage with Elsa Lanchester playing his daughter. He also did it in 1931 for 70 performances also co-starring with his wife Elsa Lanchester. In 1931 during the Depression that was a respectable run on Broadway. Laughton plays a bank clerk who's up against it in those Depression years with his family, wife Dorothy Peterson and daughter Maureen O'Sullivan facing imminent eviction. Along comes nephew Ray Milland, newly arrived from Australia, with a ton of money. He tries to interest Milland in a sure investment thing he's heard about from the bank, but can't capitalize on. When Milland refuses he poisons him when they're alone and buries him in the backyard, after taking whatever money he needs.The investment pays off, but Laughton is not a criminal at heart and he's a rather weak willed individual who drifts into an affair with new neighbor Verree Teasdale again when wife and daughter are away. That leads to blackmail and another murder and all for the wrong reasons.Mystery fans will no doubt catch the similarities between Payment Deferred and the James M. Cain classic, The Postman Always Rings Twice. It works out the same way in the film, so if you've seen the famous movie of that novel that starred John Garfield and Lana Turner you know how Payment Deferred will come out.In adapting the play MGM did not do a terribly good job of disguising the stage origins. It is in fact a one set play, the living room of the Laughton/Peterson house. However Laughton is riveting in his part and the rest of the cast supports him ably.When next broadcast don't miss Payment Deferred, for the legion of fans that Charles Laughton has, it's a must.