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Timeline

Alimony (1949) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
1949 · 70 mins · English
Directed by
Alfred Zeisler
Starring
Leonid Kinskey, Hillary Brooke, John Beal, Martha Vickers, Douglass Dumbrille, Ralph Graves

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.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (12)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Alimony
  6. 6 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Alimony (1949)

Where can you watch Alimony? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Fawesome, Mometu and Tubi TV: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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12 events in order · contains spoilers

Alimony Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Alimony (1949) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Paul's search for Kate in New York

    Paul Klinger, desperate to locate his missing daughter Kate, travels to New York to pursue any lead. He hopes that a face-to-face search will finally bring him closer to the truth about her fate.

    Where
    New York City
  2. Paul meets Dan Barker and learns Kate's new name

    In New York, Paul seeks out Dan Barker, a songwriter who once knew Kate. Dan reveals that Kate changed her name to Kitty Travers and begins to recount Kitty's tangled past.

    Where
    New York City
  3. Kitty's boarding house beginnings and alimony scandal

    Dan recalls Kitty staying at a boarding house while looking for work as a model. He explains how a friend steered Kitty toward alimony fraud and how she was photographed with a married man, triggering a scandal.

    Where
    Boarding house
  4. Kitty works for Crail and a controversial scheme

    Kitty starts working for lawyer Burt Crail and becomes involved in a scandal by posing with a married man. The episode helps Kitty profit from a controversial scheme that inflates settlements.

    Where
    Burt Crail's office
  5. Dan falls for Kitty and pens a song

    Kitty's influence helps Dan become a rising songwriter; he falls in love with Kitty and writes her a song. He breaks up with his girlfriend Linda Waring as their romance deepens.

    Where
    New York
  6. Kitty leaves Dan; Dan weds Linda; later breakthrough

    Kitty learns Dan won't achieve quick success and leaves him, returning to Linda. Dan resumes his relationship with Linda, they marry, and his real breakthrough comes later when the song he wrote for Kitty becomes a hit.

    Where
    New York
  7. Kitty returns to sing on tour; romance rekindled and fades

    Kitty returns and demands to sing the song on Dan's tour, reigniting their romance. Dan leaves his wife again for Kitty, but the relationship lasts only as long as the royalties fund it, and Kitty eventually abandons him.

    Where
    Tour across the country
  8. Dan reconciles with Linda; marriage restored

    Dan reconciles with Linda and the couple remarries, supporting Dan's career as it continues to grow. Kitty's influence fades as Dan achieves success with Linda by his side.

    Where
    Linda's home
  9. Kitty's marriage to Griswold and Crail's scheme

    Kitty marries millionaire George Griswold, while secretly working for Crail again. Crail arranges for Griswold to be photographed with another woman, but Griswold has set up a double, Curtis Carter, to thwart the scheme.

    Where
    Griswold estate and Crail's office
  10. Fraud exposed; arrests

    Crail and Kitty are arrested for fraud along with several accomplices, marking the collapse of Kitty's criminal life. The arrest exposes the fraud network surrounding their liaison.

    Where
    Police precinct / courthouse
  11. News of Kate's parole and hospital accident

    Paul receives the news that Kate, now out on parole, has been involved in a car crash and lies in the hospital. He is stunned by the turn in her life and its impact on him.

    Where
    Hospital
  12. Reconciliation at the hospital

    Paul goes to the hospital to visit Kate, and they reconcile after years apart. He promises to help her start a new and better life, offering a chance at redemption.

    Where
    Hospital

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:29

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Timeline questions answered

Alimony Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Alimony (1949): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

How did Kitty get involved in the alimony racket?

A friend introduced Kitty to a dangerous opportunity in New York: working as a co-respondent in alimony cases, where she would be photographed with married men to frame them for larger settlements. Lawyer Burton Crail hired her for this scheme, and she posed with a married man in a scandal that generated significant payout. Her natural talent for manipulation and money made her valuable to Crail's operation.

Foreshadowing: The film hints at Kitty's ambition early when she seeks modeling work but quickly gravitates toward the more lucrative illegal path.

  • kitty travers
  • alimony fraud
  • burton crail
  • co-respondent
  • settlement scheme
Q2

Why did Kitty leave Dan after he wrote her a song?

Kitty realized Dan's success as a songwriter depended on luck and timing, not immediate promise. She calculated that waiting for his breakthrough would be a waste of her time, so she left him and returned to the city. Dan then went back to his previous girlfriend Linda Waring, whom he eventually married.

Foreshadowing: This moment establishes Kitty's transactional view of relationships from the start.

  • kitty travers
  • dan barker
  • song
  • success
  • timing
  • linda waring
Q3

What was the scheme with George Griswold and Curtis Carter?

Kitty married wealthy George Griswold while secretly continuing to work for Crail. Crail arranged for Griswold to be photographed with another woman to manufacture a divorce settlement. However, Griswold anticipated the trap and sent a double named Curtis Carter instead. When the scheme backfired, both Crail and Kitty were exposed as part of a larger fraud operation.

Foreshadowing: The film hints that Kitty's criminal lifestyle eventually catches up with her.

  • george griswold
  • curtis carter
  • burton crail
  • double
  • fraud
  • trap
Q4

Why did Dan keep returning to Linda?

Dan returned to Linda twice throughout the story. The first time, Kitty left him when she saw his career wasn't taking off immediately. The second time, after Kitty abandoned him when the tour ended and royalties dried up, Linda took Dan back both times, and they eventually remarried. Linda represented stability and unconditional support against Kitty's transactional affection.

Foreshadowing: Linda's loyal presence is established early as Dan's steady anchor.

  • dan barker
  • linda waring
  • marriage
  • reconciliation
  • loyalty
Q5

How did the fraud scheme get exposed?

The scheme collapsed when George Griswold revealed he had set a trap by sending Curtis Carter as his double during the photographed meeting. This exposed that the entire setup was manufactured fraud. Both Crail and Kitty were arrested along with several accomplices, ending their criminal operation.

Foreshadowing: The consequences of Kitty's criminal choices build throughout the narrative.

  • fraud
  • arrests
  • burton crail
  • exposure
  • scheme collapse
Q6

Why did Kitty demand to sing on Dan's nationwide tour?

When Dan's song became a national hit, Kitty returned demanding to perform it herself. She wanted a share of the fame and recognition, seeing the success as her opportunity to profit. Her ambition drove her to insert herself back into Dan's life, and he fell for her charm again, leaving his wife to take her on tour.

Foreshadowing: Kitty's hunger for status and money was evident from her early involvement in the alimony racket.

  • kitty travers
  • tour
  • song
  • fame
  • ambition
  • dan barker
Q7

What caused Kitty and Dan's relationship to end the second time?

Their relationship lasted only as long as the royalties from Dan's hit song kept flowing. Once the money began to dry up, Kitty abandoned him and moved on. The romance was always built on Kitty's calculations about financial gain rather than genuine affection.

Foreshadowing: The transactional nature of their relationship was established when Kitty first left Dan for his uncertain prospects.

  • kitty travers
  • dan barker
  • royalties
  • money
  • relationship end
Q8

Why did Paul reconcile with Kate after everything she did?

Despite learning his daughter Kate had been imprisoned for her criminal involvement in the alimony racket, Paul rushed to the hospital when she was injured in a car accident. He chose to forgive her and promised to help her build a new, better life. Their reconciliation represents the film's theme that love and forgiveness can offer redemption even after moral failure.

Foreshadowing: Paul's desperate search for his daughter throughout the film establishes his unwavering commitment to family.

  • paul klinger
  • kate
  • reconciliation
  • hospital
  • forgiveness
  • daughter
Q9

How did Kate become known as Kitty Travers?

Kate changed her name to Kitty Travers when she moved to New York to pursue work as a model. This new identity marked her transformation into someone willing to exploit the legal system for profit, eventually becoming the central figure in the alimony fraud scheme that ensnared multiple men.

Foreshadowing: Dan explains that Kate changed her name as part of her new life in the city.

  • kate
  • kitty travers
  • name change
  • new york
  • model
Q10

How did the alimony racket actually work?

The alimony racket exploited divorce laws by having women (co-respondents) pose with married men in compromising situations. Lawyers like Burton Crail would arrange these encounters, then use the scandal to pressure wealthy men into larger divorce settlements. The women received portions of these payouts, and the entire scheme was fraudulent manipulation of the legal system.

Foreshadowing: The film reveals the mechanics of the scam through Kitty's involvement.

  • alimony
  • racket
  • divorce
  • settlement
  • fraud
  • exploitation

Movie threads

More Movies Like Alimony, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Alimony tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies about betrayal and redemption like Alimony

Characters manipulated into crime, seeking a final chance at moral redemption. If you liked the story of manipulation and a chance at redemption in Alimony, you'll appreciate these movies. This thread gathers crime dramas and thrillers where characters are ensnared by greed or a manipulative partner, leading to a fall from grace and a difficult, often bittersweet, path toward making things right.

  • cynical
  • regretful
  • manipulative
  • tense
  • melancholic
  • redemptive
  • Tone: dark, cynical, bittersweet
  • Pacing: steady, methodical
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories in this thread often follow a character who is morally compromised, usually through the influence of a cunning antagonist. The plot unravels the consequences of their actions, building toward a climax where the protagonist must confront their past and seize a final, difficult chance for personal redemption, rarely achieving a purely happy ending.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here because they share a core narrative of moral downfall followed by a quest for atonement. They consistently feature a dark tone, a focus on psychological manipulation, and an ending that balances the hope of redemption with the bitterness of irreversible consequences.

Femme fatale con artist movies similar to Alimony

Scheming seductresses who ensnare victims in elaborate financial or criminal plots. For viewers who enjoyed the manipulative central figure in Alimony, this thread collects movies with similar deceptive and greedy characters. These films typically involve sophisticated financial scams or alimony rackets, where the tension comes from watching the web of lies being spun and eventually exposed.

  • deceptive
  • greedy
  • manipulative
  • tense
  • cynical
  • calculating
  • Tone: dark, deceptive, tense
  • Pacing: steady, unraveling
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern revolves around a charismatic but ruthless manipulator who identifies and exploits a victim's weakness. The story methodically details the execution of the con, building tension as the victim becomes entangled. The conflict often involves an investigation or the victim's awakening to the deception, leading to a dramatic confrontation.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their central archetype—the manipulative con artist—and the specific vibe of calculated deception. They share a dark, tense tone, a steady pacing that reveals the scheme piece by piece, and themes of financial exploitation and emotional betrayal.

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Movies Like Alimony

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Every angle

Alimony (1949) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

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