You Pay Your Money

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You Pay Your Money
"You Pay Your Money" (1957).jpg
Lobby card
Directed by Maclean Rogers
Written by
  • Michael Cronin
  • Maclean Rogers
Produced byW.G. Chalmers
Starring
Cinematography Walter J. Harvey
Edited byBen Hipkins
Music by Wilfred Burns
Production
company
Distributed byButcher's Film Service
Release date
  • February 1957 (1957-02)(UK)
Running time
68 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

You Pay Your Money is a 1957 British 'B' [1] crime drama film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Hugh McDermott, Jane Hylton and Honor Blackman. [2] It was written by Michael Cronin and Rogers.

Contents

Plot

On a visit to Belgium, married couple Bob and Susie Westlake become involved with wealthy financier, Steve Mordaunt, in the sale and transfer of a collection of rare books. In an attempted burglary at Mordaunt's home, his love interest, Mrs. Rosemary Delgado, is suspected. She was once romantically linked to a gangster and she leads the Westlakes in a search for Achemd's writings, a middle eastern 14th Century seer which has inspired an extreme political group, and thought to be in the collection of rare books that Mourdaunt now owns.

The Westlakes become embroiled in a struggle over the valuable Arabic manuscripts, and when Susie is kidnapped by extremists, Bob works as an assistant to Tom Cookson, a manuscript smuggler who is importing the rare texts the gang are seeking. The extremists demand Mourdaunt turn over his collection of rare books, and plot to incite a revolution across the Middle East but can the Westlakes prevent a serious international situation?

Cast

Production

Principal photography on You Pay Your Money took place in the Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England. [3]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A routine thriller which fails to thrill in spite of having more than its quota of brutal fights. Fairly lavish sets and competent camera work are wasted on a fatuous plot, and the playing does little to heighten conviction." [4]

The Radio Times wrote, "The much maligned Butcher's Film Service holds an unenviable place in the history of British cinema. By sponsoring dozens of low-budget programmers, it enabled young talent on both sides of the camera to gain an industry foothold. Yet it mostly churned out dismal offerings such as this tale of kidnap and rare book smuggling, which is given only the merest modicum of respectability by the presence of Hugh McDermott and Honor Blackman." [5]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Thriller is vigorous, but you never quite forget how silly the plot is." [6]

TV Guide nnoted, "the execution is top notch, but the witlessness of the story rankles." [7]

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References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 67. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "You Pay Your Money". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Chibnall and McFarlane 2009, p. 67.
  4. ↑ "You Pay Your Money". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 24 (276): 50. 1 January 1957 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Parkinson, David. "Review: 'You Pay Your Money' (1957)." Radio Times, 16 June 2016. Retrieved: 30 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 404. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  7. ↑ "You Pay Your Money". TV Guide . Archived from the original on 11 October 2016.
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