Happy Birthday John Payne

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Happy Birthday John Payne

May 23, 2011 by Toby

Here’s John Payne celebrating his birthday on the set of Tennessee’s Partner (1955).

Left to right: Rhonda Fleming, Allan Dwan, Angie Dickinson, John Alton (kneeling), Ronald Reagan, Payne, Colleen Gray (in bonnet) and Benedict Bogeau.

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Posted in 1955, Allan Dwan, John Payne | 3 Comments

3 Responses

on May 23, 2011 at 9:51 am | Reply john knight

Wow! what a great photo.
Always thought John Payne was really underrated and
that he fared far better in Noir rather than Westerns.

Films like Larceny and Hells Island certainly need a DVD
release.Ive never seen Hidden Fear and believe that it
is not that highly regarded but with Payne and Andre
De Toth it must have something going for it.

I really like Sidney Salkows Raiders Of The Seven Seas
which gives Payne an opportunity to lighten up for a
change.

Speaking of Salkow I got a copy of the MGM MOD DVD
of Gun Brothers the other day. Its a sparkling transfer
and a must for Buster Crabbe fans.

I know that Salkow was a bit of a hack director;but for
some reason I always enjoy his films.

The only John Payne/Allan Dwan film on the missing list
is Hold Back The Night a Korean War drama;has anyone
out there in Fiftieswesternland seen it?
- on May 23, 2011 at 10:00 am | Reply Toby
  
  I have not seen Hold Back The Night. Want to really bad. Love Slightly Scarlet, the film that really got me interested in both Payne and Dwan (thanks to the VCI DVD).
  
  And while he seems perfectly suited to noir, he’s great in the right Western part, such as Silver Lode. He does the slow burn really well, and for him to get too frantic, too fast would’ve sunk that film.
  
  Completely agree on Hidden Fear � with Payne and De Toth, it’s certainly worth tracking down.
on May 24, 2011 at 7:00 am | Reply john knight

John Payne seemed to want to self-destruct his career
often playing really nasty characters (heartless grifters,
brutal escaped convicts,racists,thuggish cab drivers,
rustless crimelords and so on)
Interestingly he had an option on “Moonraker” in the
Fifties and was turned down by all the studios who found
it too sexy and too violent.”Moonraker” clocking in at 80
minutes and directed by Phil Karlson now thats something
that I would have loved to have seen!
Did you know that his daughter married screenwriter
Robert Towne?
Another great “lost” Film Noir” is Byron Haskins “The Boss”
some brilliant set-pieces in that one.I hope that gets an
MGM MOD release along with other Payne movies in their
vaults.
Going off subject slightly (who me!) I have heard rumours
that Columbia Classics are planning to release a little
seen Phil Karlson film from 1960;the street gang drama
“Key Witness” starring Jeffrey Hunter and Dennis Hopper.
If its true then thats one I am really looking forward to.