Today, W. Somerset Maugham is often confused with E.M. Forster, if he is remembered at all. But during the 1930s, he was one of the most celebrated living authors. As was the case with the hero in his semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage, he was trained as a doctor, but soon abandoned his practice.

Maugham's best-known film adaptation is probably The Razor's Edge (1984), which was Bill Murray's curious attempt to become a 'serious' actor in the way that Tom Hanks is now considered to be. But Of Human Bondage (1934) was probably the best version of a Maugham novel, perhaps because the star, Leslie Howard, actually was a serious actor who perfectly fit the sensitive, thoughtful leading character.

It is often said that Of Human Bondage was the film that propelled the career of Bette Davis to stardom. Her career was already on the rise, having been second billed in the blockbuster Spencer Tracy prison drama 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), and she was one of the title trio comprising Three on a Match (1932).

But it was Of Human Bondage that earned Davis her first Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She lost to Claudette Colbert, whose film It Happened One Night (1934) swept all the major awards. Davis would win Best Actress the very next year for Dangerous (1935), perhaps due to second thoughts from Academy voters who had passed her over the year before.

Of Human Bondage was an RKO production, but none of their leading actresses would take the role of Mildred Rogers. Her character is a completely heartless and selfish woman, who teases and sadistically torments the honorable and clubfooted protagonist. Bette Davis was a contract player at rival Warner Bros., but she campaigned for the role and succeeded in being loaned out for it.

Bette Davis instinctively understood the enormous career potential that evil and b*tchy roles offered. Davis played a cold blooded murderer in several future films, including another Maugham adaptation, The Letter, in which she guns down her lover in the very first scene.

In Of Human Bondage, Davis appears miscast in early scenes. She struggles with a Cockney accent, and is even more twitchy than Anthony Perkins in Psycho (1960). But her enormous, predatory eyes are well suited for the role. When she rails at her now-aloof benefactor, calling him a "gimpy-legged monster", she does so with a frightening intensity.

Howard's gentle character is compared with that of fellow doctor Griffiths (Reginald Denny) and salesman Miller (Alan Hale). Mildred prefers these men because they are more like her, hedonistic and fun-loving. She is bored to tears by Howard, who prefers to spend his evenings serenely reading medical texts. Davis, in turn, is compared with beautiful, selfless wallflowers Sally (Frances Dee) and Norah (Kay Johnson), who throw themselves at the feet of Howard to little avail.

The moral of the story seems to be that opposites attract, perhaps because we only want what is virtually impossible to have. Try as they might, our sensitive leads lack the pluck to simply take what they want instead of begging for it. Miller may be hopelessly shallow and conceited, but he is also more successful in his career. In early Hayes Code fashion, however, things do not work out as well for bad girl Mildred.

Davis and Howard would be romantically reunited in Warners' The Petrified Forest (1936), in which she again played a waitress, but this time with a heart of gold. Of Human Bondage was remade in 1946 and in 1964, but the original 1934 adaptation is universally considered to be the best. (76/100)

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older
Special Effects: Well at least you can't see the strings