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".
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".