The Lady Pays Off (1951)

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.