The Lady Pays Off is a 1951 American romantic comedy film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally and Gigi Perreau. The plot concerns a teacher with a large gambling debt that she must pay in an unusual manner.

Plot

Evelyn Walsh Warren is named the teacher of the year and her photo appears on the cover of Time magazine, but she is dissatisfied with her uneventful life. She travels to Reno and inadvertently loses $7000 at the roulette table, mistaking $100 chips for $1 chips. Casino owner Matt Braddock offers her a deal. He will forgive her debt if she can identify the cause of his nine-year-old daughter Diane's behavior. Diane seems depressed, will not eat and has been experiencing nightmares. When Evelyn refuses, he suggests that they cut cards for the debt. She draws a king but he cheats, pulling an ace. Defeated, she accompanies him to his home in Carmel, California.