While giving a private performance for a visiting monarch, concert pianist Montgomery Royale is deafened when a bomb is detonated in an attempt to assassinate the foreign ruler. With his career over as a result of his injury, Royale returns to New York City with his sister Florence, close friend Mildred Miller, and considerably younger fiancée Grace Blair. After abandoning thoughts of suicide, Montgomery discovers he can lip read, and he spends his days observing people in Central Park from his apartment window. As he learns of people's problems, he tries to help them anonymously. He becomes absorbed in his game of "playing God" but his actions are without sincerity.
George Arliss
as Montgomery Royle
Violet Heming
as Mildred Miller
Bette Davis
as Grace Blair
André Luguet
as The King
Louise Closser Hale
as Florence Royle
Donald Cook
as Harold Van Adam
Ivan F. Simpson
as Battle
Oscar Apfel
as Appleby - the Lip Reader
Charles E. Evans
as The Doctor
Hedda Hopper
as Mrs. Alice Chittendon
Ray Milland
as Eddie (uncredited)
Dorothy Libaire
as Jenny (uncredited)
