Of Human Bondage
(1934)
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John Cromwell (THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, THE GODDESS) brings W. Somerset Maugham's novel and Bette Davis's career to life with the spellbinding drama OF HUMAN BONDAGE. Having unsuccessfully tried his hand at painting in Paris, Philip Carey (Leslie Howard) returns home to London. Despite his clubfoot, Philip overcomes his awkwardness and pursues a medical career. Still in medical school, he becomes obsessed with a gruff Cockney waitress, Mildred Rogers (Davis), intent on taking him for all he is worth. When Carey discovers that she is dating other men, he attempts to forget her by striking up a relationship with another woman. The effort fails when Mildred returns to tell Carey she is pregnant. Mildred repeatedly leaves Carey in distress but returns to him when she needs money. Eventually, his devotion to her threatens his career ambitions and his chance for future happiness. Davis is spectacular as the repulsive Mildred, while Howard's quiet, suffering gentleman furthered his own reputation as an outstanding performer. |
Somerset's Maugham's famous novel about a crippled, introverted medical student whose life is almost destroyed by a coarse-grained waitress has found little success on screen. The 1934 film with Leslie Howard and Bette Davis is the most successful; the 1964 version with Laurence Harvey and Kim Novak a total disaster. This miscast effort stars Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker: he too sophisticated and uncomfortably wooden, she doing her best to convince as a cockney. The film is solid and respectable, but ends up dull and unconvincing. For all its intrinsic deficiencies, however, one keeps watching, buoyed by a good supporting cast that includes Alexis Smith and Edmund Gwenn.
Halliwell's Film Guide
This version of the famous novel brought Bette Davis to prominence but is not otherwise any better than the others.