Alimony

Alimony

Year: 1949

Runtime: 70 mins

Language: English

Director: Alfred Zeisler

CrimeDrama

Alimony racketeers prey on innocent dupe victims, exploiting the legal system for profit. When a promising young composer is lured away from his devoted wife by a scheming, fortune‑seeking woman who values his future earnings more than his love, he finds himself caught in a web of manipulation and betrayal.

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Timeline & Setting – Alimony (1949)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Alimony (1949). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

New York City

The story unfolds in New York City, providing a bustling urban backdrop for a web of alimony schemes and personal vendettas. Boarding houses, lawyers, and the fast-paced social scene frame Kitty Travers's rise and fall. The cityscape intensifies the drama as truth and deceit collide, culminating in an arrival at a hospital where family ties are repaired.

🗽 City 🕵️‍♀️ Scandal 🎭 Drama

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:19

Main Characters – Alimony (1949)

Meet the key characters of Alimony (1949), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Paul Klinger (James Guilfoyle)

A desperate father on a quest to locate his lost daughter, Paul travels to New York to piece together Kitty Travers's past. He shows steady determination and a willingness to confront painful truths to help his daughter rebuild life. His resolve drives the narrative toward a hopeful reconciliation.

🧭 Determined ❤️ Family 🤝 Reconciliation

Katie Klinger (Martha Vickers)

Katie, also known as Kitty Travers, is the daughter at the center of the alimony scandal. She displays ambition and charm, using relationships to advance her position and financial gain. Her path threads through modeling, romance, and fraud, drawing others into a web that ultimately attracts legal consequences.

💃 Seduction 💰 Ambition 🕵️‍♀️ Manipulation

Dan Barker (John Beal)

A songwriter who becomes entangled with Kitty, experiencing love and heartbreak as his career hinges on her actions. He writes a hit song that reshapes his fortunes and relationships, then faces the consequences of his choices as the affair unfolds. His loyalties shift between Kitty and Linda, driving personal conflict and ambition.

🎵 Creative 💔 Romantic 🕵️‍♂️ Deception

Linda Waring (Hillary Brooke)

Linda is Dan's former girlfriend and later wife, caught in the crossfire of Kitty's scheming. She embodies loyalty and resilience, navigating shifting loyalties as Dan's career and life are upended by the drama. Her presence anchors the romantic tension and moral conflict within the story.

💔 Love 🧭 Loyalty 🎭 Rivalry

Burton Crail (Douglass Dumbrille)

A crafty lawyer who orchestrates Kitty's alimony fraud, Crail is the architect of the scheme and its exposed flaws. He combines legal savvy with ruthless manipulation, driving the plot toward exposure and arrest. His role illustrates the dangers of exploiting legal systems for personal gain.

⚖️ Law 🕵️‍♂️ Manipulation 💼 Scheming

George Griswold (Ralph Graves)

A millionaire husband who becomes entangled with Kitty's schemes. His wealth and status make him a prime target for manipulation, and his actions help reveal the plot's complexity. The relationship with Kitty and the subsequent double-cross wide open questions of trust and motive.

💸 Wealth 🎭 Deception 🤝 Trust

Doctor (Harry Lauter)

A physician who tends to Kate after the car crash, providing medical presence in the hospital arc. His role underscores the film's pivot toward healing and closure amid turmoil. The doctor's involvement helps frame the emotional stakes of Kate's recovery and Paul's reconciliation.

🏥 Medical 👨‍⚕️ Authority 🩺 Care

Mrs. Nesbitt (Marie Blake)

A supporting figure within the social circle surrounding the central alimony scheme. Her presence contributes to the web of relationships and legal intrigue that drives the plot. She represents the broader community entangled in the scandal.

👥 Supporting 🧭 Social 🕵️‍♀️ Intrigue

Joe Wood (Leonid Kinskey)

A character in New York connected to Paul's search, though the summary does not detail his exact role. He appears as a named figure within the network of people involved in the events he described, contributing to the film's city-centered intrigue.

🕵️‍♂️ Supporting 🗺️ City Life 🎭 Drama

Helen Drake (Laurie Lind)

A character in the cast whose specific on-screen role is not detailed in the summary, but who interacts with the central figures within the New York social circle. She adds to the ensemble dynamic surrounding the alimony scandal and family reconciliation.

👥 Supporting 🧭 Social 🎭 Drama

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:19

Major Themes – Alimony (1949)

Explore the central themes of Alimony (1949), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🎭 Deception

The plot centers on calculated lies and manipulative schemes driven by money and desire. Kitty's romantic intrigues and Crail's legal maneuvering reveal how appearances can mask corruption. As the truth slowly surfaces, the audience witnesses the personal and social costs of deceit. The narrative uses suspense to show that fraud cannot stay hidden forever.

❤️ Family

Paul's unwavering search for his daughter Kate anchors the film in the value of family bonds. The hospital reunion with Kate offers a chance at forgiveness and a fresh start. Fractured relationships are tested, but love and responsibility push toward reconciliation. The story suggests that family can endure scandal and emerge with renewed hope.

⚖️ Justice

Fraudsters are exposed as law and social order close in on them. The arrests of Crail, Kitty, and their accomplices demonstrate accountability beyond personal ruin. The resolution emphasizes that crime against families and reputations carries real consequences. Truth and responsibility guide the characters toward a morally restorative end.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:19

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