Starring Mary Ellis, John Stuart, Cedric Hardwicke, Conrad Veidt, Jeanne
Stuart
Directed by Robert Milton

Print: black/white
Runtime: 91 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

That old theatrical war-horse Bella Donna (previously filmed in America by
Alla Nazimova) was resurrected by Britain's Twickenham Studios in 1934.
Conrad Veidt stars as sinister Egyptian Mahmoud Baroundi, who even
before the film gets under way has left a long trail of ruined women
behind him. His latest victim is American girl Mona Chepstow (Mary Ellis),
whom Baroundi treats like dirt and makes her like it. The plot centers
around a murder by poison, as evidenced by the film's deliberately exotic
title. Critics in 1934 praised newcomer Mary Ellis for underplaying her
role, but many film fans preferred Nazimova's arm-waving histrionics in
the earlier version.