Paula (1952)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Rudolph Maté

Writers:

Larry Marcus (story)
James Poe (writer)

Release Date:

15 May 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Paula is a rather flighty, self-centered woman. Driving at night, she injures a child in a hit and run accident...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Miscarriage | Adoption | Infertility | Character Name In Title

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Paula Rogers
Kent Smith	...	John Rogers
Alexander Knox	...	Dr. Clifford Frazer
Tommy Rettig	...	David Larson
Otto Hulett	...	Lieutenant Dargen
Will Wright	...	Raymond Bascom
Raymond Greenleaf	...	President Russell

Also Known As:

The Mother (USA) (working title)
The Silent Voice (UK)

Runtime:

USA:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Good Drama

Paula (1952)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Interesting but too overly dramatic film about a wife (Loretta Young) who suffers her second miscarriage and is about to give up on life when another tragedy strikes. While speeding to a meeting, she runs over a seven year old boy who becomes deaf to the wreck. Another man takes the boy to the hospital so the police don't know who hit him but the woman feels so guilty that she adopts the boy so that she can try and teach him to speak again. However, the police are still on the hunt for who hit the boy and the boy eventually remembers who it was. This film could have been a lot better had they toned down the crying moments. By crying moments I mean that this is one of those films that tries to make you cry every five minutes, which becomes quite annoying after a while. The scene where Young learns she lost her second baby is heartbreaking but other moments don't come off as good. Young is very good in her role, which requires her to be a snob, a heartbroken mother and a woman trying to do what's right with both the child and the law. Kent Smith is also very good as her husband who at first doesn't want to take in a mute child. The film loses some steam in the final act as things turn very stupid during one scene where the man who drove the kid to the hospital shows up at Young's house and starts a fight. The ending is predictable but touching.