Take four desperate men, a frustrated woman, a happy family, and a spineless man. Put £100,000 within their grasp, stand back, and watch the sparks fly.
A vicious gang of crooks – headed by handsome thug Johnny Mellors (Michael Craig) – plan to steal the wages from a local factory called Kneales, but their carefully laid plans go wrong when the factory employs an armoured van to carry the cash.
The gang still go ahead with the robbery. It’s a cruel, swift and decisive raid, and when Harry Parker (William Dexter) – the driver of the armoured van – is killed in the raid, his wife Jackie (Billie Whitelaw) plans revenge.
With the police closing in, the gang members turn on each other.
Jackie discovers that a man named Dennis Pearson (William Lucas) – a weak-willed office worker at the robbed firm – has had something to do with the affair. She sends him anonymous letters, which make him very nervous.
He gets no help from his estranged wife, Katie (Françoise Prévost), who has already been attracted by handsome Johnny.
It’s the old story of no honour between thieves, and Johnny eventually kills off the others and is left to make his getaway with Katie – or so he plans. She has other ideas, however, and when she leaves him, she takes all the swag (or so she believes) and then finds he has tricked her.
It is left to Jackie Parker to do the killing. She corners Johnny on a boat and eventually exacts revenge on her husband’s murderer, sending him to a watery end.
Presented against an authentic Tyneside background, Payroll makes up in force and action what it lacks in originality.
Shot around Newcastle and Gateshead, the film was based on a novel by Derek Bickerton and directed by the visionary Sidney Hayers. It was released in the USA as I Promised To Pay.
Johnny Mellors
Michael Craig Katie Pearson
Françoise Prévost Jackie Parker
Billie Whitelaw Dennis Pearson
William Lucas Monty
Kenneth Griffith Blackie
Tom Bell Bert Langridge
Barry Keegan Detective Sergeant Bradden
Edward Cast Detective Inspector Carberry
Andrew Faulds Harry Parker
William Dexter Frank Moore
Glyn Houston Madge Moore
Joan Rice Doll
Vanda Godsell Bowen
Stanley Meadows Brent
Brian McDermott Mr John
Hugh Morton Hay
Michael Barrington Worth
Bruce Beeby Alf
Keith Faulkner Billy
Murray Evans Secretary
Pauline Shepherd Beryl
Paddy Edwards Archie Murdock
Kevin Bennett Mr Murdock
Mary Laura Wood Strange
Meadows White
Director
Sidney Hayers
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With the police closing in, the gang members turn on each other.
Johnny Mellors
Blackie
Harry Parker
