A young man finds himself attracted to a cold, unfeeling waitress who might ultimately destroy them both.

Abandoning artistic ambitions, sensitive, club-footed Philip Carey enrolls in medical school and falls in love with waitress Mildred Rogers. She rejects him, runs off with a salesman, and returns unmarried and pregnant. Philip gets her an apartment and they become engaged. Mildred runs off with another medical student, and Philip takes her back when she returns with her baby. She wrecks his apartment and burns the securities he needs to pay tuition. He gets a job as a salesman, has surgery on his foot, receives an inheritance, and returns to school, where he learns that Mildred is dying.—Ed Stephan <[email protected]>

Clubfooted aspiring painter Philip Carey is advised by an acquaintance to give up his artistic ambition since he is a mediocre artist. He joins the medical school in London using his inheritance to pay his tuition and have a comfortable life. When shy Philip meets cold Cockney waitress Mildred Rogers in a restaurant, he feels attracted to her but she rejects him. He stalks her and dates the easy woman, but she scorns him. When he proposes to her, she tells him that she is marrying her lover Miller and leaves brokenhearted Philip obsessed with her. He tries to move on, dating affectionate Norah, but when Mildred returns alone and pregnant, he lodges her in his home, but she soon leaves him for his friend Reginald Denny. When Philip finds Mildred and her baby abandoned on the street later, he brings them home. Mildred unsuccessfully tries to seduce Philip but he loathes her; Mildred feels humiliated and wrecks his apartment and burns his savings, forcing him to quit medical school. However, his teacher offers to operate on his feet first. and Philip becomes a normal man. But he does not find a job and his life goes downhill until he meets a friend who helps him.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Philip Carey is a medical student of limited means who is particularly self-conscious about his clubfoot. When a fellow student wants to impress a waitress in a local restaurant, Philip goes along to show him how to make small talk with someone you're attracted to. The woman in question is Mildred Rogers, an attractive girl who gets the attention of many customers, particularly the wealthy Emil Miller. Philip takes an immediate liking to her and asks her out. It soon becomes obvious to everyone except Philip that Mildred is manipulative and using him, as he spends money on her and treats her well. She refuses his marriage proposal, saying she is marrying somebody else, but months later she is back on his doorstep, pregnant and homeless. This will not be the last time she seeks his help only to abandon him when a better proposition comes along. Through it all, Philip remains steadfast, honest, and caring although it is all to his detriment.—garykmcd

Philip Carey, extremely self-conscious about his clubfoot, leaves Paris and his dream of an art career behind after being told that he lacks the talent to make it in the business. He heads home to London to a medical-school life, at least to do something worthwhile in the world. Despite saying outwardly that he considers her crass, Philip is immediately smitten with a Cockney waitress named Mildred Rogers. Mildred treats him poorly when she does go out with him--he's only one of her suitors--while he idealizes her in his infatuation, which leads to other things suffering, such as his studies. Her poor treatment of him includes leaving without a care with someone else when she gets a more appealing offer, and crawling back to him when she needs his help. Conversely, Philip tries to find love with other women, only to hurt those women when he can't love them as much as he loves Mildred. Can anyone or anything break the destructive cycle in which Philip and Mildred exist as a pair?—Huggo