Of Human Bondage (1934 film)
| Of Human Bondage | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | John Cromwell |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Screenplay by | Lester Cohen Ann Coleman |
| Based on |
Of Human Bondage 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham |
| Starring |
Leslie Howard Bette Davis Frances Dee |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | Henry W. Gerrard |
| Edited by | William Morgan |
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Production
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| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $403,000 |
| Box office | $592,000 |
Of Human Bondage is a 1934 American Pre-Code drama film directed by John Cromwell and is widely regarded by critics as the film that made Bette Davis a star. The screenplay by Lester Cohen is based on the 1915 novel of the same title by W. Somerset Maugham. The film was remade in 1946 and again in 1964.
Sensitive, club-footed artist Philip Carey (Leslie Howard) is a Briton who has been studying painting in Paris for four years. His art teacher tells him his work lacks talent, so he returns to London to become a medical doctor, but his moodiness and chronic self-doubt make it difficult for him to keep up in his schoolwork.
Philip falls passionately in love with vulgar tearoom waitress Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis), even though she is disdainful of his club-foot and his obvious interest in her. Although he is attracted to the anemic and pale-faced woman, she is manipulative and cruel toward him when he asks her out. Her constant response to his romantic invitations is "I don't mind," an expression so uninterested that it infuriates him – which only causes her to use it all the more. His daydreams about her (her image appears over an illustration in his medical school anatomy textbook, and a skeleton in the classroom is transformed into Mildred) cause him to be distracted from his studies, and he fails his medical examinations.
When Philip proposes to her, Mildred declines, telling him she will be marrying a loutish salesman Emil Miller (Alan Hale) instead. The self-centered Mildred vindictively berates Philip with nasty insults for becoming romantically interested in her.
Philip begins to forget Mildred when he falls in love with Norah (Kay Johnson), an attractive and considerate romance writer working under a male pseudonym. She slowly cures him of his painful addiction to Mildred. But just when it appears that Philip is finding happiness, Mildred returns, pregnant and claiming that Emil has abandoned her.
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Wikipedia