Caught

Leonora Eames, a young woman from Denver, and her roommate Maxine, a gold-digging model, share a modest Los Angeles apartment and the determination to move up in the world. To that end, Leonora, who works as a carhop, has enrolled in Dorothy Dale's charm school. After graduating from the school, Leonora gets a well-paying job modeling fur coats at a department store. One day, while modeling a coat, a man named Franzi Kartos introduces himself to Leonora and invites her to a party aboard millionaire Smith Ohlrig's yacht. Leonora rejects the invitation because she does not approve of rich men sending scouts to find pretty young women to attend their parties. Maxine, however, convinces Leonora to attend the party, calling it an "investment" in her future. On her way to the party, Leonora meets Smith at the marina, and he persuades her to join him on a late night drive. After sharing a romantic evening with her, Smith takes Leonora to his house and invites her in for a drink. Leonora, however, turns down the offer and asks to be taken home immediately. Smith complies with Leonora's request, but the rejection torments him for some time. Smith tells his psychiatrist about Leonora, and insists that she is like all other women, and that she is merely interested in his money. The psychiatrist disagrees, and tells Smith that he is obsessed about his money and is frustrated at his inability to attract and control Leonora. Angered by his doctor's diagnosis, Smith vows to prove him wrong by marrying Leonora. In time, Leonora accepts Smith's marriage proposal, but the two settle into an unhappy married life. Ten months after moving to Smith's Long Island estate, Leonora becomes deeply depressed and realizes that she is merely a trophy wife to Smith. The long nights spent alone in the house with Franzi drive Leonora to distraction, and her frustration reaches its peak when Smith loses his temper and scolds her in front of his business associates. Leonora asks for a separation, takes an apartment in New York City and finds a job as a receptionist. Her new employers are Dr. Larry Quinada, a pediatrician, and Dr. Hoffman, an obstetrician. When Larry reprimands Leonora for talking to his patients about charm school and other inappropriate topics, she breaks down in tears and quits. Time passes, and Smith finds Leonora and begs her to return to him, vowing to make a new start. Leonora returns to the mansion only to realize that Smith has brought her back to accompany him on a publicity tour. She leaves Smith again, and, after getting her old job back, proves herself to be a devoted assistant to Larry. Leonora soon becomes despondent, however, when she learns that she is pregnant with Smith's child. A romance develops between Larry and Leonora, and when the doctor proposes to Leonora, she tells him that must wait because she is beholden to a wealthy man who is paying for her companionship. The following day, Larry follows Leonora to Smith's estate and discovers that she is married to him. Smith offers Leonora a divorce on the condition that he be given custody of the child, and Leonora fails in her attempt to change his mind. In the months that follow, Leonora stays at Smith's estate and spends her days in isolated misery. One night, during one of Smith's violent tantrums, a pinball machine falls on him and induces a fatal heart attack. When Leonora's baby is born prematurely and dies, Larry convinces her that the child's death will release her from her ties to the past and allow her to begin her life anew with him. (official distributor synopsis)