Paid (1930 film)


Paid is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Armstrong, and Kent Douglass in a story about a wrongly accused ex-convict who seeks revenge on those who sent her to prison using a scam called the "Heart Balm Racket".
The film was adapted by Lucien Hubbard and Charles MacArthur from the play, Within the Law by Bayard Veiller and was the fourth film version of the play. The film was directed and produced by Sam Wood.

Plot and cast

Unjustly sent to prison, Mary Turner plots revenge upon those who sent her there - district attorney Demarest and Edward Gilder. Once released she meets Joe Garson, an experienced crook, and together they concoct a breach of promise scam to be perpetrated upon the well-heeled elderly. In an ambitious step, Mary weds her enemy's son Bob Gilder. At the end, she has come to terms with her past and seeks peace of mind rather than revenge. A subplot involves a police-thwarted heist of a painting and the capture of Mary's comrade-in-crime Joe Garson. Cast includes Marie Prevost and Polly Moran as Mary's fellow prison inmates.

Cast

Photoplay commented, "The story is absorbing and Joan is simply grand!" The New York Times noted, "Miss Crawford and Miss Prevost are very good in their roles."

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $920,000 in the US and Canada and $311,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $415,000.

Adaptations

Paid was remade in Bollywood as the film Intaqam starring Sadhana.