The Lady Pays Off

"The Most Beautiful I.O.U. a Gambler Ever Collected..."

1951 1h 20m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 4

ComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The naive Evelyn Warren, elected school teacher of the year by Time Magazine, goes to Las Vegas, where she loses a lot of money. In order to pay her debts, casino manager Matt Braddock asks her to take care of his sad little daughter Diana.

“The Most Beautiful I.O.U. a Gambler Ever Collected...”

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Cast

Linda Darnell
Evelyn Walsh Warren
Stephen McNally
Matt Bradock
Gigi Perreau
Diane Braddock
Virginia Field
Kay Stoddard
Ann Codee
Marie
Nestor Paiva
Manuel
Katherine Warren
Bessie Howell
James Griffith
Ronald

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Douglas Sirk
Writers: Albert J. Cohen, Frank Gill Jr.
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

80 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

75 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Douglas Sirk, shot by William H. Daniels. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Russell F. Schoengarth shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Linda Darnell and Stephen McNally and Gigi Perreau carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Most Beautiful I.O.U. a Gambler Ever Collected...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0043720 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 4 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Douglas Sirk directs. William H. Daniels behind the camera. Russell F. Schoengarth cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

180 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
275 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Douglas Sirk, shot by William H. Daniels. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Russell F. Schoengarth shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Linda Darnell and Stephen McNally and Gigi Perreau carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The Most Beautiful I.O.U. a Gambler Ever Collected...".
7IMDB entry: tt0043720 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 4 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: William H. Daniels
Editing: Russell F. Schoengarth
Costume design: Bill Thomas
Makeup / hair: Joan St. Oegger
Runtime: 80 min · 1h 20m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Lady Pays Off (1951)

Also by

Douglas Sirk

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-09-07
★ 6/10
Linda Darnell is "Evelyn", the newly awarded "Teacher of the Year" but a woman who isn't actually that mad keen on children (a gal after my own heart). Anyway, after her award luncheon, she and a colleague - who has a "system" - head to a local casino where she manages, very quickly, to end up $7,000 in the hole. Taken to the owner, she has no way of paying back this mammoth sum so "Matt" (Stephen McNally) presents her with a choice. Either he tells the media all about her gambling habit or she take up residence in his beachside home and try to bring his young daughter "Diana" (Gigi Perreau) out of her shell. Not very impressed with either option, she elects the latter and well, you can guess the rest. Indeed, it does have shades of "Jane Eyre" to it. This is a straightforward comedy drama with engaging, if unremarkable, performances from the two stars. There is enough on-screen chemistry to keep it going for eighty minutes with Perreau quite charming as the increasingly savvy and gently manipulative youngster. If hardly an original scenario, it's still quite an uplifting tale and it moves along nicely with some lovely ocean photography and it passes the time effortlessly enough.

Production companies