Main Cast: Michael Craig, Françoise Prevost, Billie Whitelaw, William Lucas, Kenneth Griffith
Release Year: 1962
Country: UK
Run Time: 94 minutes
Plot
Billie Whitelaw dominates this crime melodrama, not as a criminal but as vengeful bystander Jackie Parker. Parker's husband, an armored car driver, is killed during a carefully orchestrated robbery. The police have an idea of who's responsible, but they lack proof. On her own, Parker goes after the suspects one by one, using psychological torture (phone calls, poison pen letters) to break them down. She reduces inside man Pearson (William Lucas) to a quivering mass of gelatin, and indirectly sends Monty (Kenneth Griffith) to a sticky end in a mire of quicksand. The film's climax is a showdown between Parker and gang boss Mellors (Michael Craig). Payroll was based on a novel by Derek Bickerton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tom Bell - Blackie; Barry Keegan - Bert Landridge; Andrew Faulds - Det. Insp. Carberry; Edward Cast - Detective Sgt. Mark Bradden; William Peacock - Harry Parker; Glyn Houston - Frank Moore; Joan Rice - Madge Moore; Vanda Godsell - Doll; Stanley Meadows - Bowen; Brian McDermott - Brent; Hugh Morton - Mr. John; Keith Faulkner - Alf; Bruce Beeby - Worth; Murray Evans - Billy; Kevin Bennett - Archie; Michael Barrington
Credit
Jack Shampan - Art Director, Morris Angel - Costume Designer, Sidney Hayers - Director, Tristam V. Cones - Editor, Gerard Schurmann - Composer (Music Score), Reg Owen - Composer (Music Score), Reg Owen - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tony Osborne - Songwriter, Eddie Ellis - Songwriter, Trevor Crole-Rees - Makeup, Ernest W. Steward - Cinematographer, Norman Priggen - Producer, George Baxt - Screenwriter, Derek Bickerton - Book Author
Payroll is a 1961 British crime thriller starring Michael Craig, and based on the novel by Derek Bickerton. The story is about a gang of villains that stage a wages robbery, which turns into a disaster. Most of the film was shot on location in and around Newcastle upon Tyne.
