Payment on Demand

Payment on Demand is a 1951 drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt that stars Bette Davis. The screenplay by Bernhardt and Bruce Manning chronicles a marriage from its idealistic early days to its dissolution.

Via a flashback, we learn about the couples humble beginnings and discover how they worked their way into the world of the nouveau riche. David is a Santa Rosa attorney with no clients, working on construction jobs with his law partner Robert Townsend to support his bride, who serves as the struggling firms secretary. Finding herself pregnant, Joyce schemes to land Swanson, a former factory worker with a valuable steelmaking patent, as a client. She succeeds at getting him to hire David alone, and when her plot eventually is discovered, Robert quits. David is furious with his wife, but she placates him by convincing him her sole intent was to help him and their unborn child.Back in the present, Joyce is forced to admit to her daughters their father has left her when a society columnist questions his move. She learns from a friend David has been seen with another woman and hires a private detective to investigate. ........

Source: Wikipedia