''You Pay Your Money'' is a 1957 British

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

film directed by

Maclean Rogers Maclean Rogers (13 July 1899 – 4 January 1962) was a British film director and screenwriter. Selected filmography Director * '' The Third Eye'' (1929) * ''The Mayor's Nest'' (1932) * '' Up for the Derby'' (1933) * ''The Crime at Blossoms' ...

and starring Hugh McDermott,

Jane Hylton Jane Hylton (16 July 1926 – 28 February 1979, born as Audrey Gwendolene Clark) was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the ...

and

Honor Blackman Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962� ...

. The thriller was one of the

Butcher's Film Service Butcher's Film Service was a British film production and distribution company that specialised in low-budget productions. The company was founded by William Butcher, a chemist from Blackheath. The company survived through several production slu ...

's 1950s

B film A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

genre.Chibnall and McFarlane 2009, p. 67.

Plot

On a visit to Belgium, married couple Bob ( Hugh McDermott ) and Susie Westlake (

) become involved with wealthy financier, Steve Mordaunt (

Ivan Samson Ivan Samson (28 August 1894 – 1 May 1963) was a British stage, film and television actor. Samson appeared regularly in West End plays and from 1920 began appearing in British silent films. He played Viscount de Mornay in '' I Will Repay'' ...

), 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 (

Hugh Moxey Hugh Vincent Moxey (27 September 1909, Somerset, – 9 March 1991, Wandsworth), was a British film and television actor. Moxey spanned his career for 40 years, where he was best remembered in supporting roles in 1950s British war films, incl ...

) 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

* Hugh McDermott as Bob Westlake *

as Mrs. Rosemary Delgado *

as Susie Westlake *

as Tom Cookson *

as Steve Mordaunt *

Ferdy Mayne Ferdy Mayne (or Ferdie Mayne) (born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel; 11 March 1916 – 30 January 1998) was a German-British stage and screen actor. Born in Mainz, he emigrated to the United Kingdom in the early 1930s to escape the Nazi regi ...

as Delal * Shirley Deane as Doris Squire *

Gerard Heinz Gerard Heinz (born Gerhard Hinze; 2 January 1904 – 20 November 1972) was a German actor. Heinz was born in Hamburg, Germany and later moved to Britain, where he changed his name. He appeared in almost 60 films (including '' Caravan''), and a ...

as Dr. Burger *

Peter Swanwick Walter Peter Swanwick (29 September 1922 – 14 November 1968) was a British actor best remembered as the "Supervisor" (sometimes called the Controller) in the 1967 TV series, ''The Prisoner''. Swanwick's film career began with bit parts in f ...

as Hall Porter *

Basil Dignam Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor. Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...

as Currie * Fred Griffiths as Fred (Driver) * Ben Williams as Seymour *

Elsie Wagstaff Elsie Wagstaff (1 July 1899 – 16 July 1985) was an English actress. Educated at the Guildhall School of Music, her stage work began in the chorus in 1919, and one of her first leading roles was as Sadie Thompson in an adaptation of Somer ...

as Ada Seymour *

Vincent Holman Vincent Holman (22 September 1886 – 7 April 1962) was a British stage, film and television actor. On stage, he was in the original cast of Arnold Ridley's ''The Ghost Train (play), The Ghost Train'' at Brighton's Theatre Royal, Brighton, Th ...

as Briggs * Mark Daly as Goodwin *

Myles Rudge Myles Peter Carpenter Rudge (8 July 1926 – 10 October 2007) was an English songwriter, known for writing the lyrics for novelty songs. His songs " The Hole in the Ground" and " Right Said Fred" were both British Top 10 chart hits in 1962, b ...

as Estate Agent * Jack Taylor as 1st Thug *

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Le ...

as 2nd Thug *

Robert Dorning Robert Dorning (13 May 1913 – 21 February 1989) was a musician, dance band vocalist, ballet dancer and stage, film and television actor. He is known to have performed in at least 77 television and film productions between 1940 and 1988. Origin ...

as Birdwatcher * Don Qureshi as Arab * Lucette Marimar as Telephonist * Amando Guinlee as Belgian Seaman * Shaym Bahadur as Said * Shripad Pai as Man * George Roderick as Oley Jackson

Production

Principal photography on ''You Pay Your Money'' took place in the

Nettlefold Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.

Critical reception

In a review of ''You Pay Your Money'', the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' 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." A review of ''You Pay Your Money'' in ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'', noted, "... the execution is top notch, but the witlessness of the story rankles.""Review: 'You Pay Your Money'."
''TV Guide''. Retrieved: 30 August 2016.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Chibnall, Steve and Brian McFarlane. ''The British 'B' Film''. London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2009. .

External links

* {{Maclean Rogers 1957 films British crime drama films Films directed by Maclean Rogers 1957 crime drama films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films