The Devil to Pay! (1930) User Reviews

Another thoroughly enjoyable early Ronald Colman talkie

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 9 January 2010]

Ronald Coleman had been a star of the screen for several years when talkies came in, and what a boost it was to his career. His Oxford English accent is so enthralling I could listen to him recite the farmer's almanac and not be bored.

Coleman plays Willie Hale, a 30ish playboy from a wealthy family who spends his time womanizing and gambling. Yet, he's a likable rogue - not only likable from the standpoint of the audience but by family and friends too. He has yet again gone broke due to his constant gambling and sells off his possessions in a foreign location to settle his debts and provide passage back home to England. When he gets there, he at first is met by a father who insists he'll kick him out - he's had it with Willie and his layabout ways. However, five minutes alone in a room with Willie and his charm, and Willie is not only forgiven by dad, dad has given him one hundred pounds to boot.

Willie then goes for a day's recreation with his sister and her friend, Dorothy Hope (Loretta Young). Dorothy is set to be engaged to the Grand Duke Paul that very night, mainly just because her dad wants royalty in the family, and there is nobody else special in her life. That changes after her day with Willie, and soon there is a scandal brewing as Dorothy refuses to go through with the marriage as planned.

Ronald Coleman is always a delight to watch in these early talking films he did for Sam Goldwyn where he is playing the confident adventurer or cad or both. He has a demeanor akin to Errol Flynn, but he is unable to display Flynn's physical agility due to a disabling wound he received during World War I. However, what he lacks in physical agility Coleman always made up in agility of soul. Loretta Young, only 17 when this picture was made, shows the beginning of her trademark sweet girl that can erupt into a ball of fire when the occasion calls for it. Myrna Loy plays Willie's girl from the past - Mary Crayle - a showgirl. Here Myrna is still playing a part similar to the exotic vamp parts she got stuck with so often over at Warner Brothers when she was a contract player from 1926 until shortly before this movie was made in 1930.

This is pretty much a light and breezy romantic comedy from start to finish. If you're in a mood for the kind of escapist entertainment that lightened the hearts of audiences during the Great Depression, this little film fits the bill.

Fluff, but delightful and entertaining fluff

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 9 September 2007]

Ronald Colman plays a prodigal son. While he is NOT a bad guy, he is a bit flighty and hasn't done a lot with his life other than travel the world and have a jolly good time. Now that his latest venture in Africa has failed, he's on his way home to England. His rich upper class father plans on tossing him out on his ear, though thanks to Ronald's winning style, he is reluctantly welcomed back with open arms.

At this point, there are two women in his life--showgirl Myrna Loy and rich girl Loretta Young (who is already engaged). How will all this work out and will Ronald wise up and act like a responsible adult--these are the main themes of this pleasant little film.

This isn't a great movie and certainly won't change your life, but it certainly is very entertaining and fun. Most of this is due to the always genial acting of Ronald Colman. Heck, in the heyday of his career in the 1930s, he could have played in REEFER MADNESS or some other dreck and still made it entertaining and likable due to his charming persona. His seemingly effortless style in this movie make it very easy to like him and it's easy to see why both Loretta Young and Myrna Loy are in love with him in the film! Plus, the writing is very witty and make this a nice romantic-comedy.

A Charming Cad

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 6 October 2009]

In Ronald Colman's Oscar winning performance in A Double Life, he plays an actor who gets way too deep into his characters. It's pointed out that when he's in a comedy he's just the life of the party and when in a drama like Othello, we find out he becomes way too much like the character he's playing. Watching The Devil To Pay I thought this must have been the comedy they were talking about.

If Colman ever had a star vehicle in his career, that depended strictly on his British charm to carry the film, this was it. He plays the second son of a titled lord who is as irresponsible as they come. He goes bust in Kenya colony and has to auction his possessions to come back to the United Kingdom when we first meet him. He spends his last few dollars on a dog, touches dear old dad for some more money and charms it out of him, hooks up with old girl friend Myrna Loy and then dumps her when he meets Loretta Young. And Young he takes from the dullard she's planning to marry, Paul Cavanaugh.

When you come right down to it, Colman's a real cad in The Devil To Pay. But he's such a charming cad, he's positively irresistible. I think only Leslie Howard of all the other actors could have been capable enough of bringing off this part, maybe.

Though The Devil To Pay is strictly a star vehicle for Colman, it does have the added attraction of a couple of other movie legends, Young and Loy in their salad days. And I really did enjoy Frederick Kerr as Colman's Lord Blimp of a father.

For fans of Ronald Colman, The Devil To Pay is not to be missed.

A delightful, witty comedy done with class.

[jackchild · 26 December 2002]

Willie Leyland (Ronald Colman) returns to England to old girlfriend (Myrna Loy), but meets new girl (Loretta Young). The repartee between the characters is delightful. My favourite scene is when Ronald Colman is writing a letter to Myrna Loy to break off their relationship. He has gotten a dog upon his return to England, and he asks for the dog's comments while he's composing the letter.

The film is well done, and the charm of Ronald Colman and Loretta Young makes the story a "must see".

Colman's terse humor carries this early sound comedy

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 8 January 2021]

"The Devil to Pay" is an early sound comedy romance that has some very terse and sharp dialog from its male lead, Willie Hale, played by Ronald Colman. Opposite him are two young actresses who would go on to film stardom. Both Loretta Young (as Dorothy) and Myrna Loy (as Mary) had been in the silent films a few years before this. Still, this is a very young Ms. Young. She was only 17 when this movie was made, and she had already had the female leads in eight sound films and been in more than a dozen silent films. Myrna Loy was 25 and had been in more than 50 films since her start at age 20 in 1925. Her star was on a slower ascent in Hollywood. Not one of any of the earlier films of these two stars were memorable, or even very good compared to the films they would be in and the roles they would play in the decades ahead. This is by far, the best film for both of the ladies to that time in their careers.

But, the main character of the film, around whom the whole plot revolves, is the more well-known actor at the time, Ronald Colman. His career too began in the silent films. He was 26 when he made his first film in 1917, and he was a popular star by 1930. He had 30 films to his credit, some of which were silent classics. Colman was 22 years older than Young when this film was made - his 39 to her 17. But, besides being a standout talent already in her teens, Loretta Young was a girl who looked much more mature and older than her age - but just the right number of years.

While this is a good comedy, it has a feel of being somewhat disjointed. There are no apparent holes in the plot, but there's no stream that holds together the earliest scene of Willie Hale's (Colman) disposition of his property and goods in South Africa, and then his appearance back home after an absence of two years. Colman gives a nonchalant treatment to his character that is a trademark in his comedies. But, in this case, his wistfulness with his father, Lord Leland (played by Frederick Kerr) is so pronounced that it's hard to take him at all seriously. So, did he fear his father's reaction and treatment, or was that just nonsense?

The story has a nice ending - a type that should be familiar to fans of old black and white movies. There isn't any great acting in here, but Colman's presence is commanding in his scenes. That's most often because one is waiting for and expecting the next bit of comedy or witticism to come from him. Indeed, without the comedy in the dialog, this film wouldn't be much worth watching.

Fans of Colman, Young and Loy should enjoy this film, and others who like the older movies may be entertained by it. But modern audiences would probably struggle to sit through this film. Here are some favorite lines.

Willie Hale, to his father, Lord Leland, "Oh, come now. How could anything I do disgrace you?... Anything disgraceful that I may do merely gains for you an unfair sympathy from a sycophantic world."

Lord Leland, "Now...now you're blaming me for bringing you into the world!" Willie Hale, "Heh, heh, I should be extremely mortified for your sake if I had to blame anyone else."

Willie Hale, "Have you had a moment's boredom since I've been in the wrong? No! Your only trouble is, you have the father complex - 'Here's my son and he hasn't done any of the things I should like him to do and for that reason I should kick him out.'"

Mary, "I'd shoot anyone who tried to take you from me, Willie." Willie, "Are you a good shot?"

Lord Leland, "Well, then, what do you want to go to New Zealand for?" Willie Hale, "Because, if I ever want to go to Australia, I'll be near."

Cute romantic comedy - watch it for Loretta Young and Ronald Colman

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 1 April 2017]

The title notwithstanding, this is a cute little romantic comedy from 1930, and features a lot of star power in Ronald Colman, Myrna Loy, and a very young Loretta Young. Colman is the devil-may-care son of a rich old man who has squandered various opportunities, and is returning home from his most recent in British East Africa. He's so charming and smooth, and you can't help but like the lightness with which he approaches life. He's got a girlfriend in theater star Myrna Loy, but soon falls for the engaged daughter of a friend of the family, Loretta Young. It's interesting to consider the ages of these actors: Young, fresh-faced and just 17(!), Loy, 25, and Colman, 39, but somehow he pulls it off. Young is a bit too girlish in the early scenes in the film, but settles in eventually, and is also quite endearing. Watch it for the two of them.

Funny pre-code romantic shenanigans

[jamesrupert2014 · 7/10 · 18 October 2021]

Ne'er-do-well bon-vivant Willie Hale (Ronald Colman) returns to England in the hope of procuring his 11th 'start-in-life' hand-out from Lord Leland (Frederick Kerr), his wealthy but cantankerous father. Rebuffed but granted 100 quid, he promptly charms family friend Dorothy Hope (a youthful Loretta Young), who becomes enamoured with his casual, fun-loving approach to life. The comedy is an appealing pre-code romance with a few subtle but sly adult jokes and some very sexy outfits. Coleman is great as the irresistible prodigal son as are his three lovely co-stars, Young, Myrna Loy, and Florence Britton. Paul Cavanagh is also quite good as Grand Duke Paul, a stiff, supercilious, humorless toff who is Willie's self-assured but perhaps mercenary rival for Dorothy's affections. For lightweight rom-com fluff, the story, albeit a bit dated and predictable, is good and the film is generally charming.

Brevity makes this witty

[edgeofreality · 7/10 · 5 July 2021]

Light and airy early comedy with Colman laying it on thick in his quasi-philosophical turn as the prodigal son. It's all very British and very there you know, with touches of sentiment to complement the humor. Only after it was over did I realize some of the characters - especially the pampered females - actually got on my nerves.

Wholly delightful comedy romance

[robert-temple-1 · 9/10 · 23 May 2008]

This film directed by George Fitzmaurice, who made so many excellent films, is well up to his excellent standard. It is crisp, witty, with some wonderful lines, and has the inimitable Ronald Colman in the romantic lead. Colman plays the irresistibly charming younger son of a wealthy English peer. He is financially irresponsible (spending, for instance, £15 of his last £20 in the world on a cute little terrier whom he names George), but open, wildly generous, contemptuous of lucre, irreverent in the politest possible way, and hopelessly sentimental. He is so dashing that all the women fall in love with him. His girlfriend is a star of the music halls, and hence in 1930 a denizen of the demi-monde, played with her typical svelte, narrow-eyed silkiness by the youthful Myrna Loy. Fitzmaurice was not a great user of closeups, and gals of that day had their faces half-hidden with those awful clinging hats anyway, so we do not get as good glimpses of the faces of the two heroines as we would like. The director seems more interested in the charming Colman, anyway. The romantic female lead is the youthful and fresh-faced Loretta Young, who had not yet become the proto-Julie Andrews we generally know her as, but was still a blushing girl exuding all the sweetness of a rose garden and laughing merrily and heartily the whole time. It is obvious that a character with her terrific sense of humour was needed to appreciate the snob-busting social anarchism of the refreshing aristocratic character played by Colman. The plot barely matters, as is so often the case with these light and amusing films. This is just such fun.

Fun Triangle Soap - The Devil to Pay!

[arthur_tafero · 6/10 · 4 October 2022]

How can you miss with a cast like Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, and Myrna Loy? The answer is you can't miss. Although Young is a bit cloying in the early part of the film, she is radiant to watch, and a worthy target of the neer do well, Colman. Loy is perfect as the wise-cracking girlfriend who is doomed to second place in the Colman stakes. Colman was perfect for these roles, and would repeat them several times over the course of his career,. Oddly enough, he was at his best in dramatic roles, such as Lost Horizon. Young would go on to date Clark Gable instead of Colman. Loy would gain fame with William Powell in the popular Thin Man series of films. Add a star if you are a soap lover.

A very old rom com made in a very modern-ish style

[1930s_Time_Machine · 4/10 · 14 July 2023]

It's all very predictable but written, acted and produced so exceptionally well that this nonsense becomes strangely enjoyable. What's astonishing is how well made and modern this is - it's hard to believe this was made in 1931.

Essentially this film is just an excuse for Ronald Colman just to do what Ronald Colman does: be charming, suave, witty and nonchalantly amusing. That basically it and you'll wonder if a whole picture can be nothing more than Ronald Colman doing Ronald Colman...surely he can't pull that off for a whole hour and a half - but he does!

In comparison with the dross which comprised the majority of what was being churned out in 1931, this is such a refreshing exception. Watching this, you can understand why Sam Goldwyn, all these years later, is still remembered as one of Hollywood's greatest producers. He made sure everything was perfect, he knew exactly how to entertain an audience, he knew how to make pictures. What's also refreshing is that this is a comedy about the super-rich, the English aristocracy in fact and yet the characters are normal, they're believable and kind of real. They're neither the bloated, pompous stuffed shirts or the cold, emotionless, evil and callous caricatures which they're normally portrayed as - they're just real people acting normally.

It's not just the star who shines in this. Besides the outrageously likeable Mr Colman, we've got a cute dog, we've got Myrna Loy being a blonde bombshell with an English accent, we've got loveable old grump Frederick Kerr (of Frankenstein and numerous Jessie Matthews comedies) not to mention Loretta Young. No, why would we not want to mention Loretta Young? She's remarkable in this - not only is she impossibly pretty (if this were made now, you'd think she had to be CGI generated because it's hard to believe that anyone can look so absolutely perfect) but she acts as though she's being doing talkies for decades. The big, big, big question you will ask yourself when watching this is: if this whole crew can act so well, so convincing and naturally why, oh why is the acting in most 1931 films was so truly awful!

This is not a hidden gem or anything like that but it's pleasant and amusing. What this guarantees and importantly it does it without being at all slushy and sentimental in any way (again refreshing for a 1931 film), is a cheerful and warm hug. The script is still actually quite funny today which I think is because it doesn't resort to being stupid or slapstick so it can still raise a smile from a modern audience. As fluffy lightweight romantic comedies go, this is one of the best.

One for Colman FANS!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 11 January 2018]

Charming as ever, Colman virtually carries the film on his own suave shoulders. True, 18-year-old Loretta Young appears less starry-eyed and more animated than usual. She's still inclined to over-act, but sharp film editing disguises this excess. Myrna Loy has an attractively sizable role with lots of close-ups, plus the opportunity to model some clinging clothes. David Torrence is suitably insinuating as the "knowing" manufacturer. In her screen debut, Florence Britton makes the hero's sister both capable and cute. Paul Cavanagh has a typical characterization, though he is forced to struggle with a Russian accent. Best of all Colman's comrades, Frederic Kerr puts across a memorable impression of curmudgeonly sympathy. His is a role that in lesser hands would have been interpreted merely as a stock drawing-room caricature. Kerr gives the portrait life and feeling. Yes, the script is slight, but it's so ingratiatingly played all around, even the most critical audience will find it fairly amusing. And it's great to hear all these British accents.

Looking more critically at the direction and the photography: Although the camera occasionally moves freely, it's more often stationary. An illusion of movement is often achieved by deft film editing. For me, however, no amount of clever cutting can disguise the fact that the film's nucleus is simply a photographed stage play. In the 2008 VHS print under review, the lab has made some commendably successful efforts to give the original's once smoky interiors a harder, glossier, more contrasty look, so that the images no longer have that soft-edged, coarse-grained pallor (a diffusion caused by shooting through a double-glazed window in a sound-proof booth so that the noise of the camera wouldn't be picked up by the microphone) associated with the early sound film. (Many fans feel that diffusion gives films a primitive, "museum" look, but some cinematographers used this effect right into the 1960s).

Early 30's pacing doesn't ruin this film

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 6/10 · 3 December 2016]

Today's movies go at 78 rpm. Movies from the mid-1930s through the 1950s go at 45 rpm. Movies from the beginning of talkies to the early-to-mid 1930s sometimes seem to go at 33&1/3 rpms. That's the way I sometimes think of cinema over the years. So if you're going to enjoy this film, you have to slow your pace down quite a bit, forget about much background music, and just savor that wonderful voice and the mannerisms of Ronald Colman.

There are two primary reasons for watching this film. First, if you're a Ronald Colman fan; and I am. This was Colman's fourth talking picture. He's a pleasure to watch and listen to. A truly unique actor.

The other primary reason for watching this film is Loretta Young, the main love interest. She had made quite a few films before this one, but many of them have been lost forever.

The plot involves Colman as an upper-class happy failure who has been living in Africa, but returns home to England and a father that is angry over his son's lifestyle...and yet loves his son and supports him. Colman first goes to visit his old love -- Myrna Loy, an actress. Loy and her friend (Young) to the the Derby with Colman, and Colman and Young begin falling in love. Young breaks her engagement to a Russian Grand Duke because she loves Colman. Colman eventually proposes, but disappoints Young when he sees Loy one more time...to say goodbye. Colman and Young separate. Will love conquer all, or will Colman move on to New Zealand? Back in these days, America's film industry often seemed obsessed with the lives of the wealthy. I find it a boring obsession. Here, however, it's a fairly interesting story, despite the sometimes very slow pace...and the over-talkativeness.

I have many of Colman's talkies in my collection, but I won't be adding this one. However, I am glad to have seen it. I'm just waiting for the "Light That Failed" to come out on DVD!

Proper People in Love

[view_and_review · 4/10 · 13 January 2023]

Aaah, early romance movies where marriage proposals and oaths of undying love are made after only a day. Who am I kidding, Hollywood told those tales well into the 90's; just watch "Titanic." Rose was pining for Jack seventy years later.

In "The Devil to Pay!" Willie Hale (Ronald Colman), a flighty rich playboy living off of his father, unintentionally sweeps Dorothy (Loretta Young), a rich young lady engaged to a stuffy duke, off her feet. He showed her a simple good time and she was so thrilled she fell in love.

I've already gone on record in other reviews stating how the characters in these romances aren't in love with the actual person but, rather, the idea of the person. They can't possibly be in love with the individual when they know so terribly little about him/her.

I now want to also express how the characters in these movies clearly confused a good time with love. "Oh, he makes me laugh" and "we had such a marvelous time" are usually the kind of statements you hear before "I love him." Dorothy was guilty of this very thing.

But I seem to remember another 1930 movie in which a high society girl was engaged to an incredibly stuffy duke yet fell in love with a regular guy who showed her a simple good time. It was called "Fast and Loose." I also seem to remember a movie in which two people fell in love after a few days and even though one of them didn't truly know the other he/she was convinced that the other was perfect marriage material. That happened in too many movies to list.

In "The Devil to Pay" Willie and Dorothy fall in love after a couple of days. Dorothy is tame and respectable while Willie is a fun-loving guy who throws caution to the wind. Dorothy knows almost nothing about him, but she's convinced that he's the perfect guy to marry. My solution for such rushed betrothals is simple. Wait.

Willie wants to marry Dorothy in the worst way and I can only suspect that it's because she's the latest and greatest thing in his life. Why do I suspect that? Look at his life. He's a rolling stone and he already had a sweetheart in Liverpool named Mary (Myrna Loy). When he whisked back into town at the beginning of the movie he couldn't wait to be with Mary. Once he had a fun rendezvous with Dorothy he was ready and willing to drop Mary like an anvil. I suspect he'll do the same thing to Dorothy regardless of his new marital status.

Having said all that, I simply don't enjoy these stuffy romances between society people. Their romantic interludes look so staged and the way they talk with one another is so formal and proper it looks like rehearsed flattery. This was one of the better romances and it was still a chore to watch.

In my next review look for my list of things only rich fools in love say. Sneak peak, "I don't mind being poor as long as I can be with him."

Free with Amazon Prime.

Unusual Romantic Lead

[dougdoepke · 18 October 2020]

Lively romantic comedy, well cast by up-and-coming producer Sam Goldwyn. Colman's central as the unpredictable Willie, son of a wealthy father who's given up on his wacky offspring. Likely it's because Willie (note the non-upperclass name) seems to have a general disdain for money, which he's prone to frittering away as soon as he gets it. Plus he's always ready with a witty quip on life's oddities that generates chuckles. He's also got a blonde cutie (Loy) as girl friend, but then meets up with dark haired cutie Dorothy (Young). Trouble is she's engaged to an English Lord, even as her new romance takes flight. Too bad Dorothy's grouchy dad doesn't trust Willie's wacky ways and tries to oust him. So how will these tangled relationships among the wealthy class turn out.

I like the way we're introduced to Willie's soft heart when he relents to buy eager mutt George from the pet store. Some such insight is needed since, aside from his antics, Willie's character is yet undefined. Producer Goldwyn had an obvious eye for up and comers like actresses Young and Loy who get the fashionable gowns, along with winning personalities and a shot at acting chops. Also, the production's well-upholstered befitting the background wealth. Then too, this is pre-Depression (1930) so the screenplay needn't worry about class issues that would soon prevail. Should also note the rotund Fred Kerr who plays Dorothy's dad like a really grouchy Winston Churchill-- I thought the physical resemblance striking. Anyway, it's an entertaining little flick that features an unusual character for a leading man, so give it a try since the sub-textual values cut across eras.

The Devil To Pay on blu-ray

[jucsetmai · 8/10 · 4 November 2020]

Good movie good funny Africa coming soon on Warner Archive Blu-ray release January 2021

Once a bon vivant, always a bon vivant.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 12 March 2024]

That's what they call a rich man that doesn't want to work, while according to a song from "Finian's Rainbow" about the idle rich, a poor man is a lazy good for nothing, or a jerk. In Ronald Colman's case, he's considered a lazy good for nothing by his own father (Frederick Kerr), while the women who love him (stage actress Myrna Loy and socialite Loretta Young) feel exactly the opposite.

This sparkling drawing room comedy is one of the best of the early 30's, produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by George Fitzmaurice, a sensational mixture of romance and screwball. It starts off terrifically with Colman trying to fight off the temptation to buy a friendly white terrier dog (who shamelessly flirts with him), and prepares for a showdown with his father who wants to throw him out.

When Colman meets Young, he finds objections by her wealthy father (David Torrance) who already knows of his reputation and threatens to cut Young off. Young, jealous of Loy, threatens to break off with him when she finds them together, and obviously, Colman isn't someone who is easily controlled. Funny and sophisticated, with Colman giving a lively sly performance and having a great time. Pretty fast moving and fresh for a fairly early talkie.

Young and Coleman

[Michael_Elliott · 28 February 2008]

Devil to Pay, The (1930)

** (out of 4)

An adventurer (Ronald Coleman) who can't do anything right in life gets involved with a woman (Loretta Young) who's about to be married to another man, which sets off various events. This film is pretty routine even for 1930 as we've seen this type of love triangle in various films. Coleman is very good in his role and his fast, energetic performance makes the film fly by. Young is equally good bring her natural charm and cuteness to her role. Myrna Loy, Frederick Kerr and David Torrence also deliver fine performances. The film runs a quick paced 72-minutes and this flies by but the screenplay could have done better for the performers.