Year of Release: 1934Country of Origin: USA
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Frances Dee, Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny
Plot outline: A medical student risks his future when he falls for a low-class waitress (IMDb).
Bette Davis appears miscast in early scenes, she struggles with a cockney accent, but her enormous, predatory eyes are well suited for the role. When she rails at her now-aloof benefactor, calling him a "gimpy-legged monster", she does so with a frightening intensity. Leslie Howard's gentle character is compared with that of fellow doctor Griffiths (Reginald Denny) and salesman Miller (Alan Hale). Mildred prefers these men because they are more like her, hedonistic and fun-loving. She is bored to tears by Howard, who prefers to spend his evenings serenely reading medical texts. Davis, in turn, is compared with beautiful, selfless wallflowers Sally (Frances Dee) and Norah (Kay Johnson), who throw themselves at the feet of Howard to little avail. The moral of the story seems to be that opposites attract, perhaps because we only want what is virtually impossible to have. Try as they might, our sensitive leads lack the pluck to simply take what they want instead of begging for it. Miller may be hopelessly shallow and conceited, but he is also more successful in his career. In early Hayes Code fashion, however, things do not work out as well for bad girl Mildred. (BK)
My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars
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