Customer Reviews
PAYROLL CLASSIC - By: Gary, 06 Mar 2008 
What a great discovery this film turned out to be.
Never heard of it. Took a chance. Bingo.
Earthy Newcastle locations, fabulous b/w photography, great pace, wonderful performances & a fine, realistic script.
Director Sidney Havers went on to direct many of the best episodes of THE AVENGERS.
The DVD transfer is close to HD. On a 40" HD TV it looks so sharp & the greyscale tones are deep & beautiful.
This one makes me curious about the quality of other Optimum DVD releases.
Shame there is no trailer. Would have been cool to see how this gem was pitched, but the bottom line is, this is one terrific feature on a marvelous digital transfer that MUST have been taken from the original negative to make it look this good.
PAYROLL is as hard-hitting today as it was in 1961. A true British classic! - By: Mr. Db Rayner, 14 Feb 2008 "Brilliant! Brutal!...TORN FROM TONIGHT'S HEADLINES!", exclaimed the poster for this highly suspenseful & thrilling British crime drama from 1961. It's about the meticulously planned robbery of a £100,000 payroll from a seemingly impregnable armoured security van in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where it was filmed on location, by crooks Michael Craig (the leader); Tom Bell; Kenneth Griffith & Barry Keegan. The robbery goes wrong. Although the gang gets away with the money, the security van driver & one of the gang are killed. The rest of the film is concerned with the hunt for the gang by the police & the security van driver's widow (a wonderfully understated performance of a woman bent on revenge by Billie Whitelaw) & the action & tension never lets up.
French star Francoise Prevost is excellent as Katie Pearson, the embittered; selfish & self-centred wife of inside man Dennis Pearson (William Lucas), a nervous wreck if ever there was one whom you just know from the beginning is going to crack & give the game away before the film is over. In fact, Prevost is so good in the role, that she BECOMES Katie Pearson...a woman who has everything a man could want...at a price.
I went to see this film at the cinema when I was 14 in 1961 & thought it was one of the best British films of the year. The robbery is so well planned & executed that I wouldn't be surprised if some real gang of crooks had copied it sometime during the past 47 years. The film is hard-hitting & suspensefully directed in black & white by Sidney Hayers & very well acted. Reg Owen's theme music (which I still have on an old 45 rpm single on the Palette label) compliments the film superbly. I'm also lucky enough to have the film's original quad poster & Front-of-House set of eight glossy, black & white stills.
Payroll was also Michael Craig's first film role as an out & out villain & he certainly makes the most of it. As for this DVD, it is an excellent transfer of the complete film. It even has the original British Board of Film Censors "A" certificate on the beginning, which is unusual for a DVD transfer of a vintage cinema film, as well as the original Anglo Amalgamated opening title. Highly Recommended. I give it five stars.
