@genplant29 said:

All this picture's cast - both male and female - does a terrific job and is ideal for their roles.

Agreed.

It's not surprising that Bette Davis gets all the attention.

In real life and in fiction the 'nice' people are more often than not considered dull and ignored, or they just have supporting roles, while the 'bad' will set our heart on fire, leading to very strong, positve or negative feelings.

So very true. lol

I really feel for Norah in this movie, as she does absolutely everything right, and definitely has her heart and noble intentions fully in the right place. But Philip unceremoniously drops her, like she's meant nothing whatsoever to him, just as soon as Mildred re-enters the picture.

By the way, a fun bit of side trivia (speaking of nice people): Reginald Sheffield, who plays Philip's nice medical school friend (the shy one who introduces him to Mildred) in this, his real-life son was Johnny Sheffield who ongoingly played "Boy" in the Weissmuller series of Tarzan movies. Johnny Sheffield subsequently went on to star in his own Bomba series of jungle films.

@genplant29 said:

I really feel for Norah in this movie, as she does absolutely everything right, and definitely has her heart and noble intentions fully in the right place. But Philip unceremoniously drops her, like she's meant nothing whatsoever to him, just as soon as Mildred re-enters the picture.

That's one of the reasons I could never really sympathize with Philip.
His treatment of Norah was almost the same as what happened to him: used and dumped when someone else came along.
I'd hoped that Sally would've rejected his proposal. She was just too nice for him and at best second choice to Mildred.
Only when he knew for certain that Mildred would never return to him again (she was dead), did he finally choose to stay with Sally.

Very true. Norah was perfect made-to-order for Philip - and he dumped her for Mildred who chronically treated him like she couldn't care less. He definitely was an idiot.

There's the brilliant exchange in the movie when, after Philip tells Norah that he's calling it quits with her - that in every relationship there's usually one who loves, and one who is loved (and that he doesn't care for her anymore) - she responds that it's always the same: if you want a man to be nice to you (a woman) you have to be rotten to him.

@genplant29 said:

There's the brilliant exchange in the movie when, after Philip tells Norah that he's calling it quits with her - that in every relationship there's usually one who loves, and one who is loved (and that he doesn't care for her anymore) - she responds that it's always the same: if you want a man to be nice to you (a woman) you have to be rotten to him.

And with those true words, one questions the relationship between Philip and Sally.

Who loves and who is loved?