Payday (1973)

The Worst Film Ever

A Masterpiece!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

I'm not a big fan of RIP TORN. I like identifiable actors who play themselves and show me a bit of myself in their performances rather than ones who are a bit too real.TORN plays Maury Dan, a real mean SOB country music singer. He is the sort of character whom podcasters like bill burr and joe rogan discuss with thinly masked reverence. He is a molester, murderer, hard drinker and does not care about anyone but himself.Cliff Emmich is his loyal driver/bodyguard who is even willing to go to jail for a murder committed by maury.Elayne Heilveil and Ahna Capri play the groupies who fight over him when he is on the road. In a really mean spirited but funny scene, TORN throws out capri out of his car for fighting with elayne. Then the car drives away, stops suddenly, reverses and torn throws out a wad of cash at Capri. Then the car drives away, only to stop again, reverse and this time torn steps out and retrieves the money from the ground and tells Capri - you didn't earn it. the scene might have inspired a similar one in THE DEER HUNTER.Apart from being a character study, PAYDAY is also a great road movie. This is a solid film with great shots of the outdoors and some powerful scenes. I really did not see the ending coming. It was quite spectacular. I suspect TORN is not too different in real life, compared to the character he played in this movie (watch his fight with Norman Mailer on Youtube).DARYL DUKE, the director, also made the fantastic THE SILENT PARTNER.

This is a mighty fine early 1970s film with Rip Torn as a forever touring hard-partying country and western singer....not only does Torn pull it off he does an outstanding job as the lead. Torn also does his own singing and it is not bad at all. The script is strong with good dialogue and the supporting cast shows top notch acting. As this is an early 1970s film viewers should expect some darkness and perhaps a certain fatalistic view on life. During the 1970s many people seemed to want to live fast-die hard-and leave a good looking corpse unfortunately. Still despite some rough edges PAYDAY is one outstanding film and considered a rare gem by many film fans. Anyone who takes the time to hunt down a copy of this timeless film which shows both the struggles of modest fame and touring will be glad they did so....this film is an easy, mostly fun watch and moves quickly...it even has a couple of clever plot twists...all in all one of Rip Torn's best films and one of the top 25 films of the entire 1970s! Tom Wilson (HardToFindMovies)New Jersey

I played the role of Sandy in "Payday". Sandy was the groupie who was seduced by Maury Dann and partied with him in his limousine while her boss/boyfriend, Mr. Bridgeway, searched for her. His discovery of where she had been led to his confrontation with Maury and his subsequent murder. I think one thing the other reviewers have missed about this film is the amazing direction by Darryl Duke. His direction of Rip Torn, who was at that time primarily a stage actor, was nothing short of brilliant. Yes, the movie was destined to be a classic. I've heard it was not marketed properly - I guess we'll never know why it didn't get the attention it deserved. I've heard it's Jay Leno's favorite film. A man of discernment!

Rip Torn was originally slated to play the lawyer role that Jack Nicholson played in "Easy Rider". After a last-minute spat with Dennis Hopper, Torn was no longer part of the project. (Nicholson, who had pretty much given up on acting by then and was working in a technical capacity on the film, stepped into the role and the rest is history.) No matter; Torn went on to do this movie a couple years later, and if there were any justice in the movie biz (there isn't) this role would have made Rip Torn a bona fide movie star; (instead he is a respected film/t.v actor and a bona fide star of the American stage; most people in the public simply don't know who he is or they get him confused with Rip Taylor, the comedian/magician). CHECK THIS MOVIE OUT, if you're lucky enough to find it; (don't bother with the big video chain stores--you'll need a hip mom/pop shop to locate this one). It is well worth the search. Torn (as Maury Dann) does his own singing (a precursor to Robert Duvall's work in "Tender Mercies") and does it well; the supporting actors are great, the writing quirky and strong, and the direction bold. The film is also filled with some unforgettable scenes: Maury confronted by a jealous boyfriend in a diner tops the list; also, the strangely funny scene where Maury goes home and visits his barbiturate-addled Mother, and the scene where Chicago, the driver, talks about his love of cooking. Other scenes, such as when Maury goes "bird shooting", are memorable simply because they ring out as authentic and true. Some of the other comments seem disappointed with the ending; it didn't bother me. Though disturbing, I thought it worked. There was a sense of inevitability leading up to it. This is a portrait of a singer living on the edge of country music stardom and riding a "downbound train". The film is powerful and stays with you. And, yes, almost nobody knows about it.