WATCH – Live Now Pay Later (1962) Complete Film – Ian Hendry + June Ritchie Experience The Joys Of Parenthood! Plus Jack Trevor Story And The Trouble With Harry
Video above: Watch – Live Now, Pay Later (1962) Complete Film
Live Now, Pay Later (1962)
Live Now, Pay Later is a 1962 film starring Ian Hendry, John Gregson and June Ritchie that takes a dark comic look at the ‘affluent society’ (a phrase introduced by John Galbraith’s 1958 book of the same name).
Based on the book, by Jack Trevor Story which was part of the Albert Argyle trilogy (Live Now, Pay Later, Something for Nothing and The Urban District Lover).
Film Synopsis
Live Now, Pay Later is a comedy-drama by director Jay Lewis and scripted by Jack Trevor Story, is about an unscrupulous salesman, Albert Argyle (Ian Hendry) is beset by a whole series of problems, all of his own making. In order to advance his career, Albert has a habit of seducing his female customers to better convince them to buy beyond their means, on credit.
Picture above: Ian Hendry and June Ritchie experience the joys of parenthood!
Watch – Live Now, Pay Later (1962) Complete Film
Video: Watch Complete Film – Live Now, Pay Later (1962) – or until Youtube takes any kind of copyright action! Click icon in controls for full screen viewing.
The Radio Times Guide to Films gives it 4 stars out of 5, and describes it as:
“…a remarkably cynical and revealing portrait of Britain shifting from postwar austerity into rampant consumerism and the Swinging Sixties”
For a good review of the film, I can recommend this thoughtful article which I discovered recently on the British 60s Cinema website:
See: Live Now Pay Later – British 60s Cinema
Picture: Original 45rpm single – Doug Sheldon. Different version to films opening titles song. To listen click here
Author – Jack Trevor Story
Picture: Jack Trevor Story
As a writer, Story stated that he regularly wrote 4,000 words a day and took only two or three weeks to finish a novel; he even wrote one in just 10 days. Often he was seen with many glamorous women, which amazed his many friends and acquaintances, and for which he gained a reputation.
His domestic life was chaotic, owing to his serial infidelity and bankruptcy; this often provided the inspiration for his work. He was from a working-class background and was essentially self-taught as a writer, basing his approach on that of his idol William Saroyan.
Jack Trevor Story (30 March 1917 – 5 December 1991) was a British novelist, publishing prolifically from the 1940s to the 1970s. His best-known work is the story for Alfred Hitchcock’s comedy The Trouble With Harry, the Albert Argyle trilogy (Live Now, Pay Later, Something for Nothing and The Urban District Lover), and his Horace Spurgeon novels (I Sit in Hanger Lane, One Last Mad Embrace, Hitler Needs You).
When he was penniless in the 1970s he moved to the then new town of Milton Keynes, where he was given a flat about the Museum of Rural Life. He meant to stay only one year, but remained there for the rest of his life.
Story was married three times, was divorced once and had eight children. Two of his wives predeceased him.
Although his works never reached a wide audience, he was respected by many in the media. He wrote a weekly column for The Guardian in the 1970s, and appeared on TV in the series Jack on the Box in 1979. He wrote several screenplays, including the TV play Mix Me a Person, and the film version of Live Now – Pay Later. His final broadcast was an audio diary, Jack’s Last Tape.
The Trouble with Harry
Alfred Hitchcock had read Jack Trevor Story’s short comic novel “The Trouble with Harry” when it was published in 1949 and considered it would make a good black comedy. Directed by Hitchcock with the screenplay by John Michael Hayes it starred Edmund Gwenn and John Forsythe; Shirley MacLaine and Jerry Mathers co-starred, both in their first film roles.
See: The Trouble With Harry – Article on The Hitchcock Zone
Film Synopsis
Trouble erupts in a small, quiet New England town when a man’s body is found in the woods. The problem is that almost everyone in town thinks that they had something to do with his death.
Video: Trailer – The Trouble With Harry
Pre-Production
After the box-office success of Rear Window and the glossy To Catch a Thief, Paramount were seemingly doubtful of the commercial appeal of the story and the budget was set at a modest $1,000,000 — less than a third of the budget of To Catch a Thief.
Grace Kelly was initially approached for the role of Jennifer, but a contract dispute with MGM meant she would be unavailable. Hitchcock also considered the French actress Brigitte Auber — who had played the role of Danielle Foussard in To Catch a Thief — but her accent was a cause for concern.
Although the film performed disappointingly at the US box office — it was the only one of Hitchcock’s Paramount films that failed to generate a domestic profit on initial release — it proved extremely popular in England and France, where the black humour was more appreciated.
In his biography on Ian Hendry, Gabriel Hershman paints a vivid portrait of Jack Trevor Story, the background to the film – Live Now, Pay Later – and his lack of commercial prowess which ultimately led to his financial downfall:
…As The Guardian pointed out in it’s obituary of Story, ‘anyone who could sell the sole rights in the Trouble With Harry to Alfred Hitchcock for 150 pounds was destined for the breadline’.
Until next time.
Best wishes
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Website of Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read: ‘Send in the Clowns – The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry’ by Gabriel Hershman
More From Ian Hendry
Ian Hendry + Britt Ekland – Rare Promotional Picture For Britt’s British TV Debut In ABC’s Armchair Theatre Production Of ‘A Cold Peace’ (1965)
Ian Hendry + Director Robert Parrish Discussing A Shot For The Film, Journey To The Far Side of The Sun aka Dopplegänger [1969]
Ian Hendry – Rare Promotional Still – This Is My Street (1963)
Simon Furness – On Ian Hendry + Acting: An Appreciation Of A Character Actor
Peter Wyngarde – In Memory Of The Man Who Would Be King [ 1926/1927 – 2018]
Ian Hendry in Bobbikins [1959] – Previously Unknown Film Role As A BBC Radio Announcer Discovered By Film Enthusiast
Birth Of The Avengers
New Book: The Avengers Series 1 – Two Against The Underworld: The Collected Unauthorised Guide to The Avengers Series 1
Ian Hendry’s Ipswich School Days – Alan Gibson Reflects On Being School Friends With Ian Hendry In The Early 1940s [Audio]
Leonard White – British Actor and Television Producer – 5th November 1916 – 2nd January 2016
Police Surgeon – The Launch Of A New TV Series: TV Times Northern Edition No. 253 September 4th – 10th 1960
This Is My Street (1964) – Ian Hendry Promotional Still
Ian Hendry + Roy Thinnes + Lynn Loring – Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun AKA Doppleganger (1969) Universal Pictures Rare Promotional Photograph
Ian Hendry – The Adventures of Don Quick [1970] – Rare London Weekend Television Promotional Still
Ian Hendry – Rowing Home Across The Thames To ‘Sphinx’, Pharaohs Island, Shepperton [1966]
Ian Hendry + Penny Finzel – Rare Photograph From Penny’s Personal Collection – The Beauty Jungle [1964]
Ian Hendry + Liz Fraser – Live Now, Pay Later [1962] – Original Film + Promotional Still
Comic Strip Presents! The Avengers ‘The Drug Pedlar’ TV CRIMEBUSTERS Annual (1962) – Ian Hendry (As Dr. David Keel) + Patrick Macnee (As John Steed)
The Crossfire (1967) – Watch Rare ITV Play – Ian Hendry + Peter Wyngarde + Eric Portman + Jeanette Sterke
Ian Hendry – Rare B+W Still From The Film, This Is My Street [1964]
Film Still – The Beauty Jungle (1964)
In The Nick (1960) Clip – Anthony Newley + Ian Hendry + Bernie Winters + Harry Andrews
Ian Hendry’s Last Acting Role – As Davey Jones in Brookside [1984]
Ian Hendry + Patrick Macnee – Rare Original ABC Television Still Discovered, Promoting The Return Of The Avengers ‘For A 13 Week Season’ [1961]
Ian Hendry – Rare Candid Portrait from Police Surgeon (1960) From The Book ‘Both Sides Of The Camera’ By ABC Television
When Ian Hendry Met Ian Hendry! At The Premiere Of Live Now, Pay Later – ABC Cinema In Ipswich (1963)
J.P. Donleavy – Acclaimed Auther Dies At 91 – Ian Hendry Starred As Dangerfield In The BBC TV Film Version Of ‘The Ginger Man’ In 1962
Ian Hendry – Magazine Portraits From The 1960s
Quality Concerns Over The Avengers, ‘Tunnel Of Fear’ DVD Released By Studio Canal On April 9th 2018 [Review]
The Avengers (1961) Original Theme Tunes Vinyl LP Album – Ian Hendry + Patrick Macnee