this 1934 adaptation of somerset maugham novel put bette davis on the map a a movie actress . she might have win an academy award for her performance but the film be make on loan and so her studio do not push for her . her acting in this one doesn not come off well by today standard . a the heartless waitress who jerk philip and a sensitive medical student and around and nearly ruin his life and davis be way too shrill and almost demonic . director john cromwell and who usually elicit good performance from his actress and be perhaps overwhelm by this one . davis be watchable and for sure and but so strident and predatory a to seem scarcely human . i imagine the character of millie a quieter and less feminine than davis and with maybe a touch of the tomboy . davis be such a strong and immediate presence that there no air of mystery to her and which make philip attraction to her seem more overtly masochistic than it should be . a philip and leslie howard be excellent . his wan and somewhat wilt good look be perfect for this failed aesthete . nor do he impose a personal interpretation on the part and a and say and dirk bogarde might have do and which give his work a rare clarity . he seem completely in control here and a he should be and play a man with a rational intellect who be in the grip of irrational emotion he can not manage or even fully satisfy and a the object of his affection move him in way he can not understand . howard be a fine actor and too often cast in standard romantic part which compel him to fall back on charm and which he doesn not use here . it be so long since i have read the book i do not feel comfortable comment on the movie faithfulness to it . i think it capture the spirit of the story well enough and and that it have in howard a perfect philip carey . the sexual undercurrent be mute and and at time philip behaves so masochistically that in the absence of strong sex feeling make one wonder about the character sanity and surely not mr. maugham intention . thanks to howard performance and philip remain firmly in focus and a one can see in his various response to and yearning for millie the extreme to which a reasonable intellect will go to understand the irrational and in himself and in others . overall and a very good film and a little stilted at time and due to it age and it evoke london nicely and and be well act for the most part .