  We look at the string theory dual of the $\N=1^*$ theory, involving
5--branes, which was recently proposed by Polchinski and Strassler
\cite{PolStr}. We argue that SUGRA alone is not enough in order to obtain the
correct screening and confinement behaviour of the various massive field theory
vacua, but that appropriate worldvolume phenomena of the 5--branes must be
included. We therefore work within the SUGRA approximation, also taking into
account the brane dynamics, and classify all the SUGRA configurations. In this
level of analysis, we find multiple valid configurations for every given
vacuum. We discuss some possible resolutions of this perplexing result. We also
consider the spectrum of asymptotic states, and discuss the global symmetries
of the SUGRA solution of the $\N=1^*$ theory and of the $\N=0^*$ theory
obtained from it by explicit supersymmetry breaking.
