Paid *** (1930, Joan Crawford, Robert Armstrong, Marie Prevost, Kent Douglass) – Classic Movie Review 9400

Producer-director Sam Wood’s 1930 Paid [Within the Law] stars Joan Crawford as Mary Turner, who is wrongly jailed for three years as a youngster and comes out seeking justice against the men who put her there – district attorney Demarest (Hale Hamilton) and Edward Gilder (Purnell Pratt).

She and other ex-jailbirds (Marie Prevost and Polly Moran) start a plot with crook Joe Garson (Robert Armstrong) to entrap them in breach of promise suits, in MGM’s efficiently delivered and still impressive vintage drama, with the fires still burning.

Wood directs the old story with considerable élan, the expert cast give it some oomph, and the splendid 25-year-old Crawford glares and acts with the heated passion of her later years.

Paid is a rare cult item, and a must for all Crawford’s fans.

Lucien Hubbard and Charles MacArthur’s screenplay is based on the 1912 play Within the Law by Bayard Veiller. It is the fourth film version of the play.

Also in the cast are John Miljan, Polly Moran, Purnell Pratt, Robert Emmett O’Connor, Tyrell Davis, William Bakewell, George Cooper, Gwen Lee, Louise Beavers, Edward Brophy, Fred Kelsey, Wilbur Mack, Tom Mahoney, Lee Phelps, Jed Prouty, Walter Walker and Clarence Wilson.

The film cost $385,000 and earned $920,000 in the US and Canada and $311,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $415,000 for MGM.

Paid [Within the Law] is directed by Sam Wood, runs 86 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Charles MacArthur (adaptation and dialogue) and Lucien Hubbard (adaptation), based on the play Within the Law by Bayard Veiller, is shot in black and white by Charles Rosher, is produced by Sam Wood and is designed by Cedric Gibbons.

Paid was remade as the 1969 Bollywood film Intaqam starring Sadhana.

 © Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9400

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