The Pay-Off (1930)

A young couple (William Janney, Marian Nixon) are robbed in the park of their savings by a thug (Hugh Trevor). When the crime boss (Lowell Sherman, who also directed) of the thug's gang finds out, he returns the money to the young couple and takes them under his wing. But the thug carries a grudge which will get all of them close to the electric chair! Based on the play CRIME by Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymer. Lowell Sherman had been a popular leading man since 1914 and this was only his second feature film as a director. By the mid thirties, he'd already began to segue to directing full time directing Mae West in SHE DONE HIM WRONG and Katharine Hepburn to an Oscar in MORNING GLORY before he died at 46 while directing BECKY SHARP (1935). I liked this little pre-code crime drama for the most part until the last 20 minutes or so when the fun stops and it gets too sanctimonious. It's a pity because the premise of a gentleman criminal who takes a liking to two young kids in love and mentors them is intriguing. Remade in 1938. With Helene Millard and George F. Marion.