In 1930 when studios were buying all kinds of plays for actors to have dialog MGM bought this old chestnut Within The Law which had starred Jane Cowl on Broadway. It turned out to be a right choice for Joan Crawford playing a hard bitten woman who wants to get even with those who put her away for larceny, something she hadn't done.
Crawford makes a couple of jailhouse pals Marie Prevost and Polly Moran who get involved in a very legal racket she's thought up. It and she intrigue racketeer Robert Armstrong. It's based on one of those breach of promise suits so typical back in the day. What could be blackmail in some circles is not if you ring in a lawyer and it becomes an out of court settlement.
But Crawford actually marries the son of the guy who put her in jail. Douglass Montgomery is a callow youth, but he does soften her a bit.
But Armstrong decides to steal the Mona Lisa reputed to have been stolen from Louvre in 1911 and presumably the real one was never returned. The Mona Lisa was stolen that year and the original play was on Broadway in 1913 so it was topical for the time. That's when things go wrong for him.
We're not likely to see Paid remade at any time soon. It's old fashioned and melodramatic. But it gave Joan Crawford a good early role to work with.
Crawford makes a couple of jailhouse pals Marie Prevost and Polly Moran who get involved in a very legal racket she's thought up. It and she intrigue racketeer Robert Armstrong. It's based on one of those breach of promise suits so typical back in the day. What could be blackmail in some circles is not if you ring in a lawyer and it becomes an out of court settlement.
But Crawford actually marries the son of the guy who put her in jail. Douglass Montgomery is a callow youth, but he does soften her a bit.
But Armstrong decides to steal the Mona Lisa reputed to have been stolen from Louvre in 1911 and presumably the real one was never returned. The Mona Lisa was stolen that year and the original play was on Broadway in 1913 so it was topical for the time. That's when things go wrong for him.
We're not likely to see Paid remade at any time soon. It's old fashioned and melodramatic. But it gave Joan Crawford a good early role to work with.