User reviews

Payroll is a British crime flick based on a novel by Derek Bickerton, and it is the story of a heist and its effects on all the people involved. What surprised me most is the fact that the film is so obscure! How come so few people have seen this? It's suave, sophisticated and entertaining; and it also has a great director in Sidney Hayers. It's certainly a film in need of urgent rediscovery! The film differs from many other films in its class because it focuses on the planning of the crime, the crime itself and then the effects it has on many people involved with it. The main character is Johnny Mellors; a streetwise criminal who is planning to rob the payroll of a factory. However, his plans are thrown into disarray when the firm hires a new company to guard the payroll; complete with an armoured van. The crooks decide to proceed with the crime anyway, and put a meticulous plan together to snatch the loot. However, things don't go exactly according to plan which has repercussions for everyone involved.

The plotting of this film is very good and director Sidney Hayers keeps it flowing well at all times by providing a constant stream of action. The characters presented are all interesting in their own right and the interactions between the various members of the gang are good. Things are kicked up a notch by the involvement of other parties too; as well as the central criminals, we also focus on their inside man, the police and the widow of a man killed during the robbery who is out for her own revenge. The style of the film is very sixties and feels very cool throughout, which is a big bonus to the film and gives it a real slick edge. Things remain entertaining throughout and things are left open enough to ensure that we never really know where it's going to go; by the time the ending comes, there's still several possible ways for it all to end and the ending itself is made up of many twists and turns. Again I have to reiterate my surprise at the obscurity of this film - it's certainly good enough to have a bigger following and I would certainly recommend it to anyone that considers themselves a fan of crime thrillers!

Payroll is directed by Sidney Hayers and adapted to screenplay by George Baxt from the novel written by Derek Bickerton. It stars Michael Craig, Françoise Prévost, Billie Whitelaw, William Lucas, Kenneth Griffith, Tom Bell and Barry Keegan. Music is by Reg Owen and cinematography by Ernest Steward.

A vicious gang of crooks raid an armoured van carrying the wages of the local factory. When all doesn't go to plan and the driver of the van is killed, the gang start to come apart from within, just as the police and a vengeful widow close in on them...

As tough as old boots! Out of Beaconsfield Studios, Payroll is the kind of British neo-noir that is adored by those that have seen it and yet it still remains a sleeper. Set up in the North East of England in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, there's a real sense of working class struggle pulsing through the picture. The character dynamics at work are nothing new in the history of the heist gone wrong movie, but the makers here insert two ladies into the equation and let them be prominent antagonists, and with some conviction as well. Time is afforded build up of characters, letting us into home lives and the planning of the crime, and then bam! It's the robbery and it pulls no punches.

Story is not without violence, and murders are coldly executed, and as the band of thieves begin to crack, led by ice cold scumbag Johnny Mellors (Craig), director Hayers puts them into a world of grim alleyways, terrace houses, back street pubs, sweat stained garages, marshy bogs and an imposing dockside ripe for a denouement. The mood is firmly set at fatalistic realism, and as Hayers tightens the noose around the dwindling gang of thieves, and Reg Owen's jazzy score flits around the drama (love that ominous double bass), we are led to a wholly satisfactory conclusion. Cast are great, especially the wonderful Whitelaw, and Steward's photography is crisp and on the money. 8/10

Footnote: Some scenes were filmed in Rugby, Warwickshire, so it's not exclusively on location in Newcastle. And of course as any Geordie will tell you, there's a distinct lack of Geordie accents in the picture.

Payroll is a product very much of its time, borrowing elements from the urban realism of fifties and sixties British cinema upon which to hang its fast-paced, wages-of-sin morality tale. The film is set in Newcastle (though you'd never guess it from the accents) and features strong performances from Michael Craig and Billie Whitelaw, with Françoise Prévost sizzling as the femme fatale par excellence.

The film starts out as a by-the-numbers heist thriller, before taking a sharp turn into territory that almost anticipates the revenge movie vogue of the seventies and eighties. The parallel story lines are handled adroitly, as is the animal attraction between Katie (Prévost) and Mellors (Craig), although William Lucas's turn as Katie's useless husband lacks subtlety.

Payroll is still an engrossing, entertaining and even mildly shocking watch. One weakness which will jar with the modern viewer is the incongruous hot jazz score; silence would have been preferable and more suited to the film's aesthetic.

Well worth a watch, even half a century on.

I agree that this story is not so unusual. Robbery, revenge...But the acting, directing and everything in this crime drama are outstanding. You are glued to this film, and the armored truck robbery is one of the most impressive, brutal, among all those I have ever seen; let me tell you that I am a heist movie specialist, and not only the greatest ones, even the most underrated from all over the world are in my huge collection. This attack sequence is very brutal, especially for this period. This crime flick is typical from those late fifties and early sixties movies from UK. See for instance the grade B features made by Danzingers or Butchers Productions; with nearly always those likes of William Lukas in most of them, the equivalent, for those years, of today Ray Winstone or Bill Murray - not the American one. The Butchers or Danzingers Brothers studios gave us such items, but with a length time much shorter. One of the best gangsters movies from UK ever made, for this time, and even of all time. But unfortunately not the best known, and that makes no difference for me.

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.

'Payroll' is astonishingly good and deserves a DVD release asap! Even though this movie is over forty years old there are still some super tension mounting scenes which had me on the edge of my seat! The ever reliable Michael Craig was particularly convincing, and well supported by the equally impressive Billie Whitelaw. William Lucas over-acted like mad in the scene where he breaks down, but other than that he was in fine form. The b/w film complimented the tale and made the seedier elements even more gripping and believable. I've seen this movie on auction sites a few times and it always attracts a number of bidders. In my opinion its a British gem!

One one level, PAYROLL (1961) is another in the long line of heist films so perfectly initiated by John Huston's THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950). At that level, the film holds its own: a British version of the familiar plot concerning a planned robbery, interpersonal conflicts, betrayals, and tragedy. But PAYROLL deserves special mention among the likes of ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (1950), RIFIFI (1955), THE KILLING (1956), ROBBERY (1967) and numerous others. This film has a fast pace and a dynamic directing style all its own. A fantastically exciting film with top-drawer performances by a cast that includes a few names that would achieve greater fame later on. A top-drawer Noir-tinged thriller with a strong sense of fatality, aided by Reg Owen's jazz-inflected music and by stark black & white photography, displaying Newcastle locations to great effect.

Early example of girl power encroaching a manly action flick, or more like widow power in that Billie Whitelaw only initially seems the docile suburban wife/mother, married to the literally driven creator of an armored vehicle...

Whose invention thwarts a gang's plan to rob a factory safe, now mobile... but the equally driven and dangerous Michael Craig (contrasting to the heroic MYSTERIOUS ISLAND role) is hell-bent on the blag going down...

And like the likely inspiration of Richard Fleischer's American Film Noir ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, there are four eclectic crooks, and one of their wives is having an affair with the viciously heartless leader...

Making for a racy romance between Craig and Françoise Prévost, married to inside man William Lucas, who, having stolen the vehicle's plans for the job to happen in the first place, is locked-down at home while progressively coming unglued and rightfully paranoid, one of the plan's two guilt-ridden weaklings along with nebbish bandit Kenneth Griffith: unlike the frantic/paranoid Lucas... the audience's barometer of fear/suspense... Griffith doesn't entirely belong...

Leaving the best for last in wild card Tom Bell, starting a career of edgy, argumentative young thugs and, like in another British heist thriller, A PRIZE OF ARMS, he even blindly rebels against the smarter, much stronger criminal boss...

Their tension setting the unpredictable mood far more capably than widow Whitelaw, whose vengeful trail is intriguing yet sometimes contrived, laughably convenient... Morphing the sparse Noir-suited title of PAYROLL into I PROMISED TO PAY, sounding more Harlequin than Hardboiled.

An underrated British film about naive working class criminals. I agree with previous comments regarding the miscasting of Michael Craig, but he was a prominent British leading man so it is understandable that he was chosen for box-office appeal. (Today,one would perhaps cast Albert Finney.) I actually worked on the movie as an extra and met most of the actors. I was particularly impressed with Tom Bell having followed his work in TV plays. He was a young actor who represented the up and coming crop of actors such as Finney, Bates, Lynch and Courteny. Although the film is an excellent record of 60's Newcastle, several scenes were shot in Rugby, where I lived. It was interesting to see how the Rugby scenes were edited into the Newcastle settings. I have a copy on tape.

Michael Craig has a fast car, it's a Jaguar. William Lucas drives a Ford Popular, popular a decade earlier. These chalk and cheese characters are integral to the planning and success of a daring security van heist. Craig is the ruthless, stop at nothing robber. Lucas, the jittery, bite yer fingernails down to the elbows, inside man.

With boastful claims about the newly introduced van's safe as houses structure and state of the art technology, as the gang prepare and the tough, occasionally violent modern jazz score kicks in, there is a sense of predictability. Needless to say, setbacks occur on the day. Stuck in a traffic jam, the truck (central to the operation) contrives to convert a three point turn into a 103 point turn attracting police attention along the way......obviously!

When the robbery results in the death of the van driver and the fatal shooting of a gang member, every thing starts to unravel. Guilt ridden Kenneth Griffith joins Lucas as newly signed up members to The Lachrymose Club, whilst Craig and Tom Bell turn on each other in a welter of greed and jealousy. As the police talk a good game, but do little else, widowed Billie Whitelaw remains calm and unflappable. Calculatedly targeting the weakest link, unhappily married to Francoise Prevost; (they never get along like a house on fire!) she spooks and intimidates the already broken Lucas through stealth and secrecy, hoping that her composed approach will lead to the main protagonist.

Grim and unforgiving. The polar opposite of the previous year's 'League of Gentlemen', 'Payroll' takes on an unremittingly tense and abrasive tone. The only minor gripe: Whitelaw is clearly seen leaping aboard a Newcastle Transport bus.....yet there's not a hint of a Geordie accent from start to finish.... Wae aye man!

This has just been released on DVD by Optimum in a very clear print.I first saw it on its original release at the ABC Golders Green on 28th May 1961,sitting in the circle for which i paid the price of 4/-(20p).My view at the time was that it was an excellent thriller.I still find it to be very entertaining but i do have a couple of complaints.Despite being set in Newcastle there is not one character or even bit part player who has a Geordie accent.We have all sorts of other "foreign" accents from Michael Craigs Rada accent,to Kenneth Griffiths welsh and Francoise Orevost and her french accent.What on earth was she doing in this film,she was not a big name in this country the only answer was that she must have been a close friend of the producer!The film is fine till it gets to the last 20 minutes.Quite frankly it is so implausible that it ruins what has gone before.I felt that the writers had just run out of ideas how to end this film.Also it has to be said that Michael Craig is good as a light comedian but a serious actor he ain't.

There has never,in my view been a blander,more anodyne leading man in British cinema than Michael Craig,and his faintly ludicrous performance as a "hard man"drags this movie down into the depths. It is about a botched payroll robbery during which an unplanned fatality occurs.The widow of the deceased sets out to track down the culprits The always watchable Billie Whitelaw and Kenneth Griffith contribute effective performances,as does William Lucas, but they are fighting a losing battle against a woeful script and a miscast lead duo in Craig and Francois Prevost The British cinema then was too middle class and genteel to do this kind of thing well and it is little more than a period curiosity for today,s audiences

Michael Craig is surprisingly effective in this British crime drama. He leads a nasty gang of hoodlums bent own robbing the poorly guarded payroll of a factory. Poorly guarded, that is, until - much to the gang's chagrin - they upgrade the protection to an armoured van. Determined to proceed, though, and after a nervous series of roadwork setbacks, they hit the van, steal the loot and the driver is killed. The widow - "Katie" (a solid performance from Françoise Prévost) is not for giving up, and agreeing with the police that the criminals must have had a man on the inside, she begins an investigation of her own. Meantime, the fatality and the need to keep the loot hidden until the dust settles is causing friction amongst the robbers and with the police closing in and the nerves shredding they begin to turn in on themselves. Sidney Hayers delivers a quickly and tautly paced film for us here, with a strong supporting cast including Billie Whitelaw, the always reliable Kenneth Griffith and Tom Bell all contributing to the general sense of encroaching peril as the truth is sought by the bloodhound "Insp. Carberry" (Andrew Faulds). It does take a bit too long getting going, but once in it's stride this is quite an enthralling watch that culminates predictably, but well.

When thieves fall out... somewhat formulaic story admittedly but very well done. Beautifully evocative b&w shots of early 60's Britain - sometimes think things really were b&w in those days. I think Craig is an excellent choice as the brooding Mellors and that Prevost was a much undervalued actress - very cool as the femme fatale.

Some of the "hi tech" stuff which looks so funny now was probably really cutting edge then. Check out the photocopier and the tape player.

This film really does go through some of the clichés but is none the worse off for doing so. It also showcases the overlooked talents of the leads as well as introducing us to Tom Bell, who went on to have a fine career and is best known for being the wry cynical sidekick to Helen Mirren in the excellent Prime Suspect.

Great music too!

A brutal and nihilistic British gangster movie depicting a wages heist (SLIGHT SPOILER COMING:) that naturally goes horribly wrong.

Filmed on location on the mean streets of Newcastle with a snazzy jazz score by Reg Owen, a cast of familiar faces includes Michael Craig, Kenneth Griffith and Tom Bell.

No prizes for guessing that it all ends in tears but the reactions of the two wives is remarkable: a nice little homebody is transformed into an avenging angel in white, while another character's high maintenance French wife has an extraordinary scene where she completely loses it and loudly goes berserk reverting to her native tongue as she shrieks in despair.

I had quite high hopes for this British crime film. "Payroll" has promise without being exactly unpredictable or creative in the plot department. Unfortunately, I found this film to be mainly tedious and uneventful. A poor narrative doesn't exactly help. A good cast has gone to waste. Billie Whitelaw - a fine actress - has next to nothing to do throughout the whole story. She swears vengeance against the gang in question but spends most of her time in twiddling her thumbs! The opening 20 minutes is pretty good. After the robbery scene though, it is downhill all the way. The film just seems to plod along aimlessly. The running time of 105 minutes is far too long and should have been about 15 minutes shorter. The bloke who played the investigating police officer is absolutely hopeless! He has no screen presence, no charisma and is so wooden you could knock nails into him. Where was John Gregson when he was needed?? He would have made something of the same role. "Payroll" is supposed to be set in Newcastle. However, there is no one who can put on a reasonably convincing Geordie accent. Definitely not worth seeing again.

This is a many-layered story and it's this which keeps it riveting for the audience. Johnny Mellors (Craig) is a career criminal. He likes to have all the facts before hitting his mark. The biggest mark of his career is the payroll of a large factory, over one-hundred-thousand pounds. Unfortunately, on the day of the hit a couple of motorcycle police ride up just as they are about to put their plan into action. Then to make matters worse, their inside man, Dennis Pearson (Lucas), informs them of the companies decision to employ an armoured car for the wage run. Unable to turn down such a big score Mellors and his men start to stake out the armoured car...

This is only the beginning, some writers and directors would make a movie just about the heist. Though, what Baxt and Hayers give the viewers is the aftermath of the heist itself. So we have the police, chasing after the criminals, though evidence and clues are running thin. A wife, hellbent on revenge. Another wife, cunningly trying to get the better of every man in her life, who she pities, hates, and doesn't trust,.. just to get the money. A man who cannot handle guilt and mentally breaks down. All of these characters are well rounded and written.

The good thing is that the actors are brilliant in their roles and bring them to life. Craig is believable as the leader of the gang. This guy is methodical and cool. Though if you get on the wrong side of him he will break you in two... without blinking. Whitelaw is one of the strongest in the cast. When she sets out on her mission of revenge the look on her face says it all. This woman is a juggernaut with a one-track mind and will not stop until she has her revenge. Francoise Prevost has an air of a clever and cunning woman. Always thinking, always planning, who will do anything to better her life... but can she be more wily or slick as Mellors? And, William Lucas does scared, anxious, and frightened magnificently.

But there's still more. Director, Hayers, is great in his field. There are plenty of interesting camera shots, angles, and iconic photography. All of which add power to the film. To be honest, this is a masterpiece in modern film noir, though it's old now as it was filmed in 1961 - it is still a great watch.

Now, I'm not a great jazz fan but the soundtrack to the movie is outstanding and used to it's fullest potential. It has the power to pull the viewer in and make them feel the excitement and tension of a scene. I was surprised by how much I liked this element of the movie.

I would recommend this to everyone.

Along the DVD's advent and his successful purpose to bring back to our home the real cinema with ultimate bright image, raise up the restoration process to unknown gem like Payroll, the first half of movie is unrivalled experience since Asphalt Jungle as the drafting to overcame a new system of security inserted on the armored car, the unsettled informer and the gang leading by Michael Craig as the mastermind Johnny Mellows, who impose to remaining partners his rare knack to take ahead this bold plan, followed by a breathtaking long sequence of the heist that left behind unexpected two dead bodies in both sides, then came up a hiatus when the police take over and all outcomes with tragic results, one member of the gang the old Monty (Kenneth Griffith) is the highlight when his pal died on the act, he refuses receives his share, in other hand the informer Dennis Pearson (William Lukas) stays frightfully shaken raising suspicions to the investigators, Katie is actually a foreign disgruntled wife which has a slight distrust of his husband's behavior lately, she tie up the loose ends and come closer to Johnny in hope to get rid of his husband, the cunning Kate with undeniable sexy appeal tries out convinces Johnny to take away together, meanwhile the Widow Jackie Parker (Billie Whitelaw) distraught under so slow investigating procedure acts on your own, the movie took place at Newcastle with those beauty iron bridges, this movie rocks with robust performances, linked with a realism almost flawless, the end sounds a bit Hollywood formulaic, near perfect!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9