OF HUMAN BONDAGE (RKO Radio, 1934), directed by John Cromwell, stars Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in the first screen treatment from the 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Essentially a Howard film in which he's the central character, it's Bette Davis, on loan from her home base studio of Warner Brothers, who virtually gathers enough attention for her powerful performance. Although it didn't place Davis immediately to the major ranks of motion picture stardom, at least not right away, it did present her to be just more than another movie actress, just more than another a face on the movie screen, and just more than what she can do in a much challenging role.
As the opening credits begin through a superimposed view of France, the story opens in the city of Paris where Philip Carey (Leslie Howard), a struggling young artist eager for recognition on his paintings, being told by a respected Parisian artist that he would be nothing more than "mediocre." Told to try another profession, Philip decides to follow in his late father's field by becoming a doctor. As a medical student at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, Philip, quite sensitive about his club foot deformity, becomes the subject matter for both boy patient and medical students, much to his personal humiliation. Boarding with two fellow students, one being Harry Griffiths (Reginald Denny), a ladies man, Philip finds himself attracted to a cockney waitress, Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis), who's constant response being, "I don't mind." Though they have a courtship, Mildred shows no love and compassion for him. Being rejected for Emil Miller (Alan Hale), a married businessman, Philip, with an attempt to forget Mildred, encounters Nora (Kay Johnson), who, after failing his medical examinations, is encouraged by her to resume with his studies. As romance blossoms between them, Mildred comes back to his life, broke and pregnant. He supports her and her child, but his devotion goes unappreciated. With her out of his life once again, Philip, now an intern in a charity hospital, becomes acquainted with Thorpe Athelny (Reginald Owen) and his attractive young daughter, Sally (Frances Dee). Romance blossoms between the two until Mildred returns, leading to further humiliation and heartaches through his trying times of "human bondage."
What might have become a two hour plus super production containing many important passages from the lengthy novel, this 83 minutes screen adaptation to OF HUMAN BONDAGE, does have enough ingredients offering the basic elements of Maugham's detailed work to make it a satisfactory whole. The film itself eliminates much of Carey's personal life from his boyhood days, going to brief passages leading, through super-imposed camera methods, to basic formula material that has made this screen adaptation a true classic. Though the Mildred character in the original novel was of minor importance, screenwriter, Lester Cohen, made her important enough to become the center of attraction, one hard to forget during the stretches she absent from the screen. As much as Davis wasn't Academy Award nominated for her performance, the Academy simply didn't forget her by awarding her two winning trophies with additional nominations besides. As Mildred, Davis in true form, is very convincing right down to her British cockney dialect. She doesn't hold back on how her character is to be portrayed, unlikable as she is unsympathetic, enough to the point of making one wonder why such an intelligent and cultured individual as Philip Carey himself should fall victim of such treatment from an uncaring person for so long, yet, the whole purpose of the story. Without Mildred, whose makes the other female co-stars (Johnson and Dee) seem pale in comparison, OF HUMAN BONDAGE might have become as "mediocre" as Carye's paintings. On the other hand, the other women in Carey's life are beneficial for this shy man's self-esteem, yet worthy of recognition. Classic Philip Carey moment: Telling Mildred, "You disgust me!"
OF HUMAN BONDAGE was remade twice, first by Warner Brothers in 1946 starring Paul Henried and Eleanor Parker, set in gas-lit London at the turn of the century, as opposed to the modern-day original; and again by MGM (1964) with Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey. Though Parker tries her best making her Mildred character believable, the 1946 remake might have succeeded with the casting of British born/ American actress, Ida Lupino has she not refused the assignment. The Kim Novak carnation, which kept the first two editions from circulation for decades, ranks the weakest of the three. Interestingly, the 1934 original, unavailable for viewing and at one time believed "lost," eventually surfaced sometime in the seventies at revival movie houses. Local public broadcast stations and cable television (Arts & Entertainment) followed in the 1980s and 90s. Over the years, the film has fallen into public domain with poor audio/video quality when distributed to home video and later DVD formats. The best available print for OF HUMAN BONDAGE happens to be from cable TV's Turner Classic Movies where this, the latter two BONDAGE remakes, as well as other Howard and Davis collaborations (THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936) and IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (1937)), are shown on numerous occasions.
OF HUMAN BONDAGE, now in highest regard as a Bette Davis classic, should not go without mention regarding Max Steiner's pleasing underscoring and its agreeable supporting cast. (****)
As the opening credits begin through a superimposed view of France, the story opens in the city of Paris where Philip Carey (Leslie Howard), a struggling young artist eager for recognition on his paintings, being told by a respected Parisian artist that he would be nothing more than "mediocre." Told to try another profession, Philip decides to follow in his late father's field by becoming a doctor. As a medical student at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, Philip, quite sensitive about his club foot deformity, becomes the subject matter for both boy patient and medical students, much to his personal humiliation. Boarding with two fellow students, one being Harry Griffiths (Reginald Denny), a ladies man, Philip finds himself attracted to a cockney waitress, Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis), who's constant response being, "I don't mind." Though they have a courtship, Mildred shows no love and compassion for him. Being rejected for Emil Miller (Alan Hale), a married businessman, Philip, with an attempt to forget Mildred, encounters Nora (Kay Johnson), who, after failing his medical examinations, is encouraged by her to resume with his studies. As romance blossoms between them, Mildred comes back to his life, broke and pregnant. He supports her and her child, but his devotion goes unappreciated. With her out of his life once again, Philip, now an intern in a charity hospital, becomes acquainted with Thorpe Athelny (Reginald Owen) and his attractive young daughter, Sally (Frances Dee). Romance blossoms between the two until Mildred returns, leading to further humiliation and heartaches through his trying times of "human bondage."
What might have become a two hour plus super production containing many important passages from the lengthy novel, this 83 minutes screen adaptation to OF HUMAN BONDAGE, does have enough ingredients offering the basic elements of Maugham's detailed work to make it a satisfactory whole. The film itself eliminates much of Carey's personal life from his boyhood days, going to brief passages leading, through super-imposed camera methods, to basic formula material that has made this screen adaptation a true classic. Though the Mildred character in the original novel was of minor importance, screenwriter, Lester Cohen, made her important enough to become the center of attraction, one hard to forget during the stretches she absent from the screen. As much as Davis wasn't Academy Award nominated for her performance, the Academy simply didn't forget her by awarding her two winning trophies with additional nominations besides. As Mildred, Davis in true form, is very convincing right down to her British cockney dialect. She doesn't hold back on how her character is to be portrayed, unlikable as she is unsympathetic, enough to the point of making one wonder why such an intelligent and cultured individual as Philip Carey himself should fall victim of such treatment from an uncaring person for so long, yet, the whole purpose of the story. Without Mildred, whose makes the other female co-stars (Johnson and Dee) seem pale in comparison, OF HUMAN BONDAGE might have become as "mediocre" as Carye's paintings. On the other hand, the other women in Carey's life are beneficial for this shy man's self-esteem, yet worthy of recognition. Classic Philip Carey moment: Telling Mildred, "You disgust me!"
OF HUMAN BONDAGE was remade twice, first by Warner Brothers in 1946 starring Paul Henried and Eleanor Parker, set in gas-lit London at the turn of the century, as opposed to the modern-day original; and again by MGM (1964) with Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey. Though Parker tries her best making her Mildred character believable, the 1946 remake might have succeeded with the casting of British born/ American actress, Ida Lupino has she not refused the assignment. The Kim Novak carnation, which kept the first two editions from circulation for decades, ranks the weakest of the three. Interestingly, the 1934 original, unavailable for viewing and at one time believed "lost," eventually surfaced sometime in the seventies at revival movie houses. Local public broadcast stations and cable television (Arts & Entertainment) followed in the 1980s and 90s. Over the years, the film has fallen into public domain with poor audio/video quality when distributed to home video and later DVD formats. The best available print for OF HUMAN BONDAGE happens to be from cable TV's Turner Classic Movies where this, the latter two BONDAGE remakes, as well as other Howard and Davis collaborations (THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936) and IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (1937)), are shown on numerous occasions.
OF HUMAN BONDAGE, now in highest regard as a Bette Davis classic, should not go without mention regarding Max Steiner's pleasing underscoring and its agreeable supporting cast. (****)