Paid in Full
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
William Dieterle
Robert Cummings
Lizabeth Scott
Diana Lynn
Eve Arden
Ray Collins
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Jane Langley drives to San Francisco Hospital on a rainy night while she is in labor. Jane uses a pseudonym at the hospital, and surgeon Dr. Fredericks is called from his sleep to perform a cesarean section on her. Before the surgery, Fredericks advises Jane that if she survives, her baby will die, and vice versa. Jane, having left a letter of instruction in the event of her death, insists that her baby's life is more important than her own. As she is wheeled into surgery, Jane recalls the past few years of her life: Jane, a Los Angeles dress designer who reared her younger sister Nancy after their mother died in childbirth, is in love with Bill Prentice, who works in the advertising department of her firm. However, Bill is in love with Nancy, a model for the company. Still stinging from a recent failed affair, Nancy selfishly accepts Bill's marriage proposal, and Jane grapples with her own disappointment. Although bored by married life, Nancy becomes jealous of her sister after she is promoted and starts working closely with Bill. To save her marriage, Nancy fulfills Bill's desire to become a father, but then refuses to share her daughter Deborah with her husband. As time passes, Nancy grows more possessive and vindictive, and shuts Jane out of her life completely. During a consultation with her family physician, Dr. Winston, Jane learns that the Langley women are predisposed to difficult childbirths, and she is advised never to have children. After a few years, Nancy is so bored and bitter that she threatens Bill with divorce, and plans to take custody of Deborah. One day, when Nancy is out of town, Bill encounters Jane at a restaurant, and the two lonely people finally confess their love for each other. Jane nevertheless urges him to stay with Nancy for Deborah's sake, and spends the night on his couch because the hour has gotten so late. When Nancy arrives home in the morning, she assumes they have had an affair and becomes hysterical. Jane is so distraught that she is blinded by tears, and accidentally kills her niece with her car. Nancy and Bill divorce, and Jane becomes estranged from her sister. However, after working closely with a psychiatrist, Nancy finally reconciles with Jane, who believes that another child would restore Nancy's spirit. Jane proposes to Bill and they cross the border into Mexico to marry immediately. A few blissful weeks later, Jane leaves Bill without explanation and drives to San Francisco, all the while praying to have a girl "for them." Back in the hospital, Jane's baby girl is delivered by cesarean section, and as Jane is dying, Fredericks sends for Bill and Nancy. On her deathbed, Jane gives her baby to Nancy, thereby effecting a reunion between the couple.
Director
William Dieterle
Cast
Robert Cummings
Lizabeth Scott
Diana Lynn
Eve Arden
Ray Collins
Frank Mchugh
Stanley Ridges
Louis Jean Heydt
John Bromfield
Kristine Miller
Laura Elliot
Ida Moore
James Nolan
Rolland Morris
Geraldine Wall
Laura Lee Michel
Margaret Field
Jane Novak
Dean Martin
Carol Channing
Arthur Hecht
Dorothy Adams
Carole Mathews
Yvette Von Koris
Billie Fuchs
Gini Adams
Charmineene Harker
Vivian Eaton
Maruja Ploss
Georgia Clancy
Arlene Jenkins
Cristine Cooper
Martin Doric
Ralph Soncuya
John Bishop
Gil Herman
Byron [s.] Barr
Kristine Miller
Laura Elliot
Marie Blake
Mary Field
Frances Sandford
Jimmie Dundee
Elaine Riley
Virginia Vinson
Gladys Blake
Harry Cheshire
Julia Morgan
Douglas Spencer
Dewey Robinson
Franz Roehn
Salvador Báguez
Charles Bradstreet
Charles Williams
Robert Kellard
Crew
Robert Blees
Sam Comer
Hans Dreier
Farciot Edouart
Ray Evans
Bertram Granger
Edith Head
Earl Hedrick
Gordon Jennings
Jay Livingston
Warren Low
Richard Mcwhorter
Gene Merritt
Walter Oberst
Charles Schnee
Leo Tover
Wally Westmore
Victor Young
Victor Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Bitter Victory. Dean Martin's onscreen credit appears with the song credit, and is listed as "Sung by Dean Martin." According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, this film was based on an actual event, as related by Frederic M. Loomis in his article in Reader's Digest. According to a Paramount News publicity item, the film was the first Paramount feature to be shot on the just introduced celluloid film stock. According to various news items, Andre de Toth was initially slated to direct the film, and Don DeFore was originally cast as "Bill Prentice." In addition, news items reported that Anne Baxter, Ann Richards and Mickey Knox were cast in the picture. Baxter and Richards did not appear, and Knox's appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Paid in Full marked Carol Channing's feature film debut.
