Canham, 1976 p. 74-75: Davis “is matched by the gentlemanly understatement of Howard’s playing, yet he is sufficiently fluid an actor to present Davis from dominating the film as she used to do at Warners with male leads of limited talent such as George Brent and Paul Henreid.” Of Human Bondage 1946". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System ( Time Warner) . Retrieved 15 August 2016. As time progresses, a letter is sent to Philip which informs him that his uncle has died, leaving a small inheritance. With the inheritance money, Philip is able to return to medical school and pass his examinations to become a physician. The story seems a bit hoary now as it’s hard to credit anyone meekly accepting the cruel treatment Davis’s selfish and heartless waitress doles out to the sensitive and besotted Howard. Crippled physically as well as emotionally, until that is, his clubbed foot condition is miraculously cured near the end, he spurns the love of two other pleasanter and indeed prettier young women as Davis’s parasitic Mildred sponges off him every time her latest boyfriend shows her the door. Of Human Bondage is a 1934 American drama film directed by John Cromwell and regarded by critics as the film that made Bette Davis a star. [1] The screenplay by Lester Cohen is based on the 1915 novel Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham.

a b c d e f g Stine, Whitney, and Davis, Bette, Mother Goddam: The Story of the Career of Bette Davis. New York: Hawthorn Books 1974; ISBN 0-8015-5184-6, pp. 41–42, 50–51, 57–63, 68 It's an iconic moment, mesmerizing and magnificent, but the movie as a whole can't live up to it. Davis' unbridled, often manic energy fuels the film, yet when she's off screen, there's little wind pushing the picture's sails. Director John Cromwell is perhaps the first director to recognize the power and magnetism of those Bette Davis eyes, and he marvelously showcases them in a few gorgeous close-ups, but the rest of his treatment of the material is uninspired. Though the essence of Maugham's story still resonates (and anyone who's ever been involved in an unhealthy relationship can surely relate to it), Davis is the reason to watch 'Of Human Bondage,' despite the fact even her work is wildly inconsistent.

See also

Through Philip, Maugham broaches the question of his own loss of religious faith. Young Philip hears that if one prays fervently enough, all one’s prayers will be answered. When he puts this guarantee to the test by praying as fervently as he can that his club foot will be made whole, his prayers are not answered. This disappointment unleashes a doubt that finally causes Philip to reject the religion in which he has been reared.

By this time he realized that he did his best writing when he wrote about his own experience. Also by this time he had experienced considerable success as a playwright and was able to apply to his prose writing some of the techniques he had learned as a dramatist, thereby bringing greater dramatic tension into his fiction.Reflecting on her performance in later years, Davis said, "My understanding of Mildred's vileness – not compassion but empathy – gave me pause ... I was still an innocent. And yet Mildred's machinations I miraculously understood when it came to playing her. I was often ashamed of this ... I suppose no amount of rationalization can change the fact that we are all made up of good and evil." [7] [10] It’s therefore completely fair that Of Human Bondage has become synonymous with Bette Davis’ career trajectory and remains mostly discussed in those terms… However, for our purposes, it’s also a Pre-Coder, a film from the era’s midnight — premiering in late June 1934 and released commercially in July, the same month that the notorious Production Code would be formally, officially, and uncompromisingly implemented. To say that this picture got in under the wire is an understatement, although the growing tension within the industry regarding censorship had already necessitated some changes to Maugham’s original story — specifically, the Mildred character’s final affliction is not syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease procured from a lowly stint as a prostitute, but tuberculous, a disease that anyone out in the cold, dusty streets might get… Nevertheless, this is a definite Pre-Code film, and one look at the 1940s remake proves just how beholden its predecessor is to the qualities of this notorious era, for although both decades’ takes on the story are very similar, the later adaptation focuses on the tragic, bleak atmosphere of the setting to compensate for something that it was unable to replicate from the earlier iteration: the raw, primal sexual energy that pulsates through the premise. Philip was brought up as a gentleman, and he was expected to become involved in religion and at some point to go into the Church, as his uncle was a vicar, and he grew up under the rules of church in his uncle’s house. But Philip preferred his own way, and rejected religion for art studies, even though excelled academically, and later rejected it for accounting, and finally he found himself in medicine. Philip had even some doubts about these studies, but he never got out of this path. Of Human Bondage is a 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The novel is generally agreed to be Maugham's masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although he stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention." [1] Maugham, who had originally planned to call his novel Beauty from Ashes, finally settled on a title taken from a section of Spinoza's Ethics. [2] The Modern Library ranked Of Human Bondage No. 66 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Davis, however, failed to earn a Best Actress nomination for an Academy Award with only three nominees ( Claudette Colbert, Norma Shearer, and Grace Moore) making the final cut. A loud faction heralding Davis's performance ended up with the Academy allowing "write in" votes in addition to the official nominees that year. Colbert, starring in three major films that year, nevertheless easily won the award for It Happened One Night (she also starred in two additional Best Picture nominees, Imitation of Life and Cleopatra) with Shearer coming in second. The non-nominated Davis came in third and reportedly the also non-nominated Myrna Loy came in to finish the top five for her performance in The Thin Man.

The author describes in detail every failure and disappointment that Philip endured, and what impact these struggles by trials and mistakes had on establishing of his own philosophy, which fitted his own nature and helped him to become free from others’ opinions and ambitions. What Philip came to through his experience in accounting and in attempts to become a painter, was that a person should get rid of prejudices, and thus there is nothing what a man can do wrong. What is really significant in Of Human Bondage is that it touches almost all the complexities of human life: these are upbringing and education issues, place of religion and morality, difficulties in finding an occupation, and the obstacles which are faced when having some inability. One of the last is Philip’s clubfoot, which prevented him to become a military man or a sportsman. Finally, especially prominent is the theme of love, which usually is the reason of all the troubles. The meaning of life always has been a question of all the times, and it might never be answered, but it must not become a reason not to try. Update this section! Maugham's initial title was Beauty from Ashes, borrowed from Isaiah 61:3, "... to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair"; however, it had already been used. [3] He took the new title from Spinoza. Part IV of his Ethics is titled "Of Human Bondage, or the Strength of the Emotions" ( Latin: De servitute humana seu de affectuum viribus). A free person, says Spinoza, is able to think rationally: but when one is dominated by emotion, rational thought is impossible, and one becomes a slave to the (unthinking) passions. He also defines good and bad categories based on the people's general beliefs, connecting it to their “emotions of pleasure or pain”. He defines perfectness/imperfectness starting out from the desire, in its meaning of particular aims and plans. Philip Carey, the main character of Of Human Bondage, was seeking this very useful end, and became satisfied only after realizing what his aim had been, and having found a person to share this aim with. One reaction RKO executives never expected to hear at the preview was laughter. After watching the film several times, they felt the Max Steiner score was to blame, and the composer wrote a new one that included a motif for each of the principal characters. [3] a b Chandler, Charlotte, The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis, A Personal Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster 2006. ISBN 0-7432-6208-5, pp. 93–100, 102The rest, as they say, is history, and Davis' career would soon soar to enviable and dizzying heights. Were it not for the watershed role of Mildred, however, who knows what the Davis legacy would be. Though dated and a bit stylized, 'Of Human Bondage' defines the Davis persona - a ballsy broad unafraid of risk, passionate about her craft, intolerant of incompetence, and fiercely, unashamedly driven. It may not be a great film, but it allows us to witness the birth of a great actress, and for that reason alone, it will never be obsolete. A story of compulsion on the one hand and control on the other, the story still has much resonance today even if it’s dressed up as a bad woman dragging down a good man, although the more traditional positions in such a relationship are reversed here. Stanley Archer's Artists and Paintings in Maugham’s Of Human Bondage. English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920, Volume 14, Number 3, 1971, pp. 181-89 (Article). ELT Press. Project Muse. Of Human Bondage 1934". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System ( Time Warner) . Retrieved 15 August 2016. The supporting cast includes Reginald Denny, Alan Hale Sr. (father of Alan Hale Jr., who was the skipper on the TV series "Gilligan's Isle"), and a breathtakingly beautiful Frances Dee.

I made it very clear that Mildred was not going to die of a dread disease looking as if a deb had missed her noon nap. The last stages of consumption, poverty, and neglect are not pretty, and I intended to be convincing-looking. We pulled no punches, and Mildred emerged ... as starkly real as a pestilence." [7] Publicity still of Bette Davis in the 1934 film Of Human Bondage To explain the non-English accent of Philip Carey, portrayed by Paul Henreid, reference was made to his Austrian mother. Henreid was actually too old for the role and was fitted with a blond wig to disguise his age.

Now, no longer willing to tolerate the brutality of his schoolmasters, Philip goes to Heidelberg to study. It is there, in his close association with two intelligent friends and his immersion in the study of philosophy, that Philip disabuses himself of the notion that there is a God. He finds this revelation liberating. On his return to England, he meets Gertrude, his aunt’s German friend, and with her has his first sexual experience. The book begins with the death of Helen Carey, the beloved mother of nine-year-old Philip Carey. Philip has a club foot and his father had died a few months earlier. Now orphaned, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle, Louisa and William Carey. Canham, Kingsley. 1976. The Hollywood Professionals, Volume 5: King Vidor, John Cromwell, Mervyn LeRoy. The Tantivy Press, London. ISBN 0-498-01689-7 Higham, Charles, The Life of Bette Davis. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company 1981; ISBN 0-02-551500-4, pp. 66–72