If this ISN'T the film where George Sanders patented the 'cad' that was to prove something of a signature then it should be as he brings it off to a fare-thee-well. Albert Lewin seemed almost alone in Hollywood in the forties in that he seemingly blended the set decorator taste of Mitchell Liesen with the style of Ernst Lubitsch in a mini canon of sophisticated films ranging from The Moon and Sixpence to Pandora and the Flying Dutchman via The Picture of Dorian Gray and this entry. The now rare sighting of Ann Dvorak is welcome as is the presence of Marie Wilson, still two years away from celebrity as My Friend Irma. John Carradine, in a less showy part than was his wont also scores heavily as the doomed friend who, with the best of intentions, starts Sanders on the slippery slope to cad-ism. It was also the last film of Warren Willian who had, in his time, played both Philo Vance and Perry Mason. Well worth a look.
Review of The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
