Review: Pay or Die

Based on a true story, Ernest Borgnine plays a humble Italian-American NYPD lieutenant in the early 1900s who tries to prove the existence of the Sicilian Mafia (i.e. The Black Hand) in New York (especially ‘Little Italy’), whilst also trying to get the cooperation and support of the local immigrant community who don’t inherently trust the cops. The Police Commissioner eventually appoints him head of his own squad of Italian-American cops. Meanwhile, Borgnine is encouraged by his superior to educate himself, whilst he also romances Zohra Lampert.

Ernest Borgnine takes the lead in this rather obscure, not very well-known crime pic from 1960. Directed by Richard Wilson (“Al Capone”, “Invitation to a Gunfighter”), it’s a B-movie with an A- lead actor, and that’s no complaint. It actually reminded me of a 30s crime flick, right down to the montage of newspaper headlines as Borgnine and his Italian Untouchables make arrests. Borgnine, one of the all-time great character actors, is perfectly cast, and offers up a performance that is likeable and tough in equal measure, depending on the circumstances. A versatile actor with a smile that could be as endearing as it could be menacing, here he certainly doesn’t take any getting used to playing a rather humble, uneducated Italian-American. It’s an easy sell. His character is the most interesting thing here, actually, as this humble working class immigrant has trouble getting support from his own people, precisely because he’s not educated enough…even though most of his people aren’t either. The rest of the cast aren’t as impressive as Borgnine, but it’s interesting to see a pre-“Godfather” John Marley play a ragman with a wonky eye, so look out for him.

The finale is particularly interesting for how grim it is, so that’ll please those of you who like a break from tradition somewhat, in an otherwise pretty standard crime story. Shot expertly in B&W by Lucien Ballard (“The Killing”, “Will Penny”, “The Wild Bunch”), who contrasts stark New York scenes with a wonderfully shadowy, noir-ish climax in Italy. Outside of a real cheapo music score by David Raksin (“Kind Lady”, “Jubal”, “The Bad and the Beautiful”) that sounds like something out of an AIP hack job, the only problem with the film is the abundance of ‘Mamma Mia! That’s-a spicy meat-a-ball-a!’ ethnic stereotypes that do grate a little bit. I get that this is an older film set in an even earlier era (the early 1900s), but it’s a bit annoying nonetheless. As for that music score, it just doesn’t seem organic to the film, and just isn’t worthy of it.

A solid, little-known crime-drama with Borgnine in solid form, this one’s worth tracking down, especially if you’re a Borgnine fan (I wouldn’t be surprised if the film was an important project for him). I bet Martin Scorsese is a fan of this one, it’s up his alley and his neck of the woods, too (i.e. ‘Little Italy’). The screenplay is by Richard Collins (“The Badlanders”, “Riot in Cell Block 11”) and Bertram Millhauser (“The Suspect”, “Tokyo Joe”). 

Rating: B-