Ian Hendry is a tallyman. That's the fellow who sells you something on credit, with nothing down and just a little to pay each week. He's very good at his job, charming and energetic, with all the tricks at what is nowadays called upselling, with a sideline in seduction. The problem is that things are beginning to fall apart for him. June Ritchie, the girlfriend, whom he moved out on months ago, has just given birth to their daughter, and he knows he wants her and them, but he can't turn off the sales pitch.
Ian Hendry gives a great performance as the profligate salesman, who finds that you can buy anything you want, but if you don't make the payments, they can repossess, well, everything: the goods, your happiness, your life, even your immortal soul. What starts out as a comedy seamlessly turns into tragedy without Hendry noticing, and a savage satire of materialism and the credit philosophy. More than half a century later, it still stings.
Ian Hendry gives a great performance as the profligate salesman, who finds that you can buy anything you want, but if you don't make the payments, they can repossess, well, everything: the goods, your happiness, your life, even your immortal soul. What starts out as a comedy seamlessly turns into tragedy without Hendry noticing, and a savage satire of materialism and the credit philosophy. More than half a century later, it still stings.