''Back Pay'' is a 1930 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

with songs, produced and distributed by

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

, a subsidiary of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

, and starring

Corinne Griffith Corinne Griffith (née Griffin; November 21, 1894 – July 13, 1979) was an American film actress, producer, author and businesswoman. Dubbed "The Orchid Lady of the Screen," she was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses of the ...

and

Grant Withers Granville Gustavus Withers (January 17, 1905 – March 27, 1959) was an American film actor who acted under the screen name Grant Withers. With early beginnings in the silent era, Withers moved into sound films, establishing himself with a lis ...

. It is based on a short story by

Fannie Hurst Fannie Hurst (October 18, 1889 – February 23, 1968) was an American novelist and short-story writer whose works were highly popular during the post-World War I era. Her work combined sentimental, romantic themes with social issues of the d ...

. It is a remake of a 1922 silent film '' Back Pay'' that starred

Seena Owen Seena Owen (born Signe Auen; November 14, 1894 – August 15, 1966) was an American silent film actress and screenwriter. Early life Born Signe Auen in Spokane, Washington, she was the youngest of three children raised by Jens Christensen and K ...

. A woman leaves her hometown and her boyfriend, and becomes a

kept woman A mistress is a woman who is in a relatively long-term sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a different woman. Description A mistress is in a long-term relationship with her attached mister, and is often referred to ...

in New York. Her former boyfriend returns from a war, blind and with injured lungs. The woman attempts to nurse him back to health, although she has been warned that he is dying.

Synopsis

Hester Bevins is tired of living in the small town where she has lived all her life. Although she has a boyfriend, Gerald Smith, who is in love with her, she deserts him and takes a train to New York with a traveling salesman. Bevins meets a rich older man, Charles Wheeler, who provides her with all the luxuries she wants in return for being his girlfriend. One day, Bevins' friends invite her on a motor trip to Hot Springs, which is about from her old hometown, which she decides to visit. She encounters Smith, who, thinking that she is still single and has a job in the city, proposes marriage, but she refuses saying that it is now impossible. Disillusioned, he signs up for the war and ends up being gassed, suffering lung damage and blindness. When the news reaches Bevins, she immediately goes to see him and attempts to nurse him back to health. When the doctor tells her that Smith has only a short time left to live, Bevins asks Wheeler's permission to marry Smith before he dies. She finds peace and happiness in her brief relationship with Smith. After Smith dies in her arms, Bevins decides to end her sordid relationship with Wheeler and return to working for a living.

Cast

as Hester Bevins *

as Gerald Smith *

Montagu Love Montagu Love (15 March 1877 – 17 May 1943) was an English screen, stage and vaudeville actor. Early years Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Love was the son of Harry Love and Fanny Louisa Love, née Poad; his father was listed as accountant ...

as Charles G. Wheeler *

Hallam Cooley Hallam Cooley (February 8, 1895 – March 20, 1971) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1913 and 1936. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and died in Tiburon, California. Cooley attended Nor ...

as Al Bloom *

Vivien Oakland Vivien Oakland (born Vivian Ruth Andersen; May 20, 1895 – August 1, 1958), was an American actress best known for her work in comedies in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably with the Hal Roach Studios. Oakland appeared in 157 film ...

as Kitty (* billed as Vivian Oakland) *

Geneva Mitchell Geneva Doris Mitchell (February 3, 1908 – March 10, 1949) was an American actress. After beginning her entertainment career as a chorus girl at the age of twelve, she became more well known for her roles in several Hollywood films. Earl ...

as Babe * William Bailey as Ed

Songs

*"They Didn't Believe Me" usic and lyrics by Jerome Kern">Jerome_Kern.html" ;"title="usic and lyrics by Jerome Kern">usic and lyrics by Jerome Kern''Sung by Corrine Griffith''

Preservation

''Back Pay'' has been preserved in the Library of Congress.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' (<-book title) by The American Film Institute, c. 1978 The film has been shown on television and cable. ''Back Pay'' was released on DVD by the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

in Spring 2012.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Back Pay 1930 films 1930 drama films American drama films American black-and-white films Remakes of American films Sound film remakes of silent films Films directed by William A. Seiter Films based on short fiction First National Pictures films Warner Bros. films Films based on works by Fannie Hurst 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Films with screenplays by Francis Edward Faragoh Films about blind people