Back Pay is a 1930 American Pre-Code drama film with songs, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., and starring Corinne Griffith and Grant Withers. It is based on a short story by Fannie Hurst.[1] It is a remake of a 1922 silent film Back Pay that starred Seena Owen.[2]

Back Pay
Directed byWilliam A. Seiter
Screenplay byFrancis Edward Faragoh
Story byFannie Hurst
Produced byWalter Morosco
William A. Seiter
StarringCorinne Griffith
Grant Withers
CinematographyJohn F. Seitz
Edited byRay Curtiss
Music byCecil Copping
Alois Reiser
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • June 1, 1930 (1930-06-01) (United States)
Running time
57 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A woman leaves her hometown and her boyfriend, and becomes a kept woman in New York. Her former boyfriend returns from a war, blind and with injured lungs. The woman attempts to nurse him back to health, although she has been warned that he is dying.

Plot

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Hester Bevins is tired of living in the small town where she has lived all her life. Although she has a boyfriend, Gerald Smith, who is in love with her, she deserts him and takes a train to New York with a traveling salesman. Bevins meets a rich older man, Charles Wheeler, who provides her with all the luxuries she wants in return for being his girlfriend. One day, Bevins' friends invite her on a motor trip to Hot Springs, which is about 30 mi (48 km) from her old hometown, which she decides to visit.

She encounters Smith, who, thinking that she is still single and has a job in the city, proposes marriage, but she refuses saying that it is now impossible. Disillusioned, he signs up for the war and ends up being gassed, suffering lung damage and blindness. When the news reaches Bevins, she immediately goes to see him and attempts to nurse him back to health. When the doctor tells her that Smith has only a short time left to live, Bevins asks Wheeler's permission to marry Smith before he dies. She finds peace and happiness in her brief relationship with Smith. After Smith dies in her arms, Bevins decides to end her sordid relationship with Wheeler and return to working for a living.

Cast

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Songs

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  • "They Didn't Believe Me", performed by Corrine Griffith, composed by Jerome Kern[1]

Preservation

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Back Pay has been shown on television and cable. It was released on DVD by the Warner Archive Collection in 2012.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Back Pay (1930) Warner Bros. pressbook". Retrieved February 20, 2024 – via United Artists Collection.
  2. ^ "Back Pay (1930)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  3. ^ "Back Pay (1930)". www.dvdcompare.net. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
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