First off you get Betty Davis who can deliver films up like a chocolate treat. Then the story is one to ponder and takes its place in the genre as part of lifes big picture and our personal journeys along the way. Two people meet and instead of selfish pursuits of which some takes place, they discover the true purpose of the meet to begin with but only after they have lived through it all. This concept can apply to all of our wanderings and gives us a reason to pause and ponder while pursuing things and going from point A to point B. Nicely done talkative film and acted out to perfection this leaves you with afterglow for watching it. For those that like to eat while watching (I do), nice scene with bacon and pancakes with hot maple syrup and delicious coffee. Have yours ready and join in or choose your own delight and go for it. Listen to the dialog, watch the scenes and receive this...

This was one of Bette Davis' most disliked films. It got bad reviews and didn't make any money but I can see why this appealed to her. It's all above the neck, somewhat ethereal. I'm sure she wanted to see if she can pull the audience in, bring the same emotional storm she has brought to so many other films with out any action. She succeeded beautifully. So did her co-star, but he has always been known for his deliberate delivery. The dialogue was quick, sharp and at times, very funny, due to John Hoyt's 40's imitation of a bitchy Queen. I laughed out loud when I saw Florence Bates dressed as caretaker's wife. I could also imagine the director screaming at her while she stumbles around the kitchen, a place she has never been seen before in a film. However, this film is not light and amusing, it's very sad, almost heartbreaking. To spend your whole life unloved and than to finally find the perfect mate only to be told he is married to a religious ideal that he will never obtain. I was hoping for a happy resolution but let me tell you, to have to accept reconciliation with ones mother in exchange for Jim Davis is not an even exchange. These people connected and communicated on a lever that neither one had ever experienced before and knew they never would again. I have one question. Why would Slick pursue her if he knew it could not lead to anything? Except there would not have been a movie without it. I wonder how the two got along during this shoot. I'm sure Jim was scared to death of her and his affect was stiff and unsure sometimes, but it was the dichotomy that also created the attraction. I hope more people will give this a try. You will never see Bette so quiet and so hurt, You ache for her.

I agree with another commentator that this is not a good Bette Davis picture. Jim Davis was indeed a weird choice for his part. The ending was about as unsatisfactory as one can be.However, I found three elements fascinating: 1. John Hoyt was never better as the unctuous, insinuating friend to Bette's poetess. Whether or not he was supposed to be homosexual, as is implied by some critics, he was clearly also in a kind of overly-well-bred love with her. 2. Florence Bates, as always, was fine in an unusually subdued role for her (remember her over-the-top self in "Rebecca"!) 3. I just love the cat painting in Bette's apartment that Jim Davis refers to! Isn't it creepy and interesting??? If anyone out there knows who painted it or how to get a copy, I'd love to know.

Most of the previous reviews have been correct. This is a boring, talky flick that feels like a filmed play for the most part. Maybe it was a play, I don't know.Strange but I thought Davis' love interest in the film Jim Davis (later of TV Dallas fame...who I completely did not recognize) was way too young to play opposite her, but when I looked up both their ages, he was actually only a year younger than Davis! Davis was 40 in this movie. What I find strange too is the fact that in this movie, in 1948 she is very slim, as if she'd gone on a diet or something. Her next movie, in 48 as well, is June Bride. A great comedy with Robert Montgomery. In that film she's slim as well, and showing her age a tad bit more than in this movie, where she is just starting to show signs of 40ish-ness.But then something must have happened to Davis in her personal life because the following year, in 1949, in that, little seen, Beyond the Forest (where she utters the famous line - What a dump) she seems to have aged 5 or 10 years instead of just 1. And her figure too has gone to the dogs too. She's all lumpy in Beyond the Forest! I've never seen someone go to pot in so short a time.Then in 1950 she did her famous All About Eve in which she plays a woman who is 40 (when in real life she was 42). But in All About Eve she LOOKS like she could be 50! I'd be curious to hear from any fans out there, if they could shed some light as to what happened to Davis in those 2 years to go from a slim and attractive 40 in this movie Winter Meeting & then appear as she did only a year later in Beyond the Forest & one year more in All About Eve.As for Winter Meeting, now that I've seen it, I can scratch it off the must see Bette Davis movie list and never have to see it again.Oh, as for Mr. Davis' acting in this movie, he was HORRIBLE! Where oh where was George Brent (one of Davis' frequent Warner Brothers co-stars) when you need him? Don't THINK he was dead! I'll have to check on IMDb!