Of Human Bondage

Plot synopsis:
The book begins with the death of Helen Carey, the much beloved mother of nine-year-old Philip Carey. Philip has a club foot and his father had died a few months before. Now orphaned, he is sent to live with his aunt Louisa and uncle William Carey.
Early chapters relate Philip's experiences at his uncle's vicarage. Aunt Louisa tries to be a mother to Philip, but his uncle takes a cold disposition towards him. Philip's uncle has a vast collection of books, and Philip enjoys reading to find ways to escape his mundane existence. Less than a year later, Philip is sent to a boarding school. His uncle and aunt wish for him to eventually attend Oxford. Philip's disability and sensitive nature make it difficult for him to fit in with the other students. Philip is informed that he could have earned a scholarship for Oxford, which both his uncle and school headmaster see as a wise course, but Philip insists on going to Germany.
In Germany, Philip lives at a boarding house with other foreigners. He enjoys his stay in Germany. Philip's guardians decide to take matters into their own hands and they persuade him to move to London to take up an apprenticeship. He does not fare well there as his co-workers resent him, because they believe he is a "gentleman". He goes on a business trip with one of his managers to Paris and is inspired by the trip to study art in France. In France, Philip attends art classes and makes new friends, including Fanny Price, a poor and determined but talentless art student who does not get along well with people. Fanny Price falls in love with Philip, but he does not know and has no such feelings for her; she subsequently commits suicide.
Philip realizes that he will never be a professional artist. He returns to his uncle's house in England to study medicine and pursue his late father's field. He struggles at medical school and comes across Mildred, who is working as a waitress in a tea shop. He falls desperately in love with her, and they date regularly, although she does not show any affection for him. Mildred tells Philip she is getting married to another man, leaving him heartbroken; Philip subsequently enters into an affair with Norah Nesbit, a kind and sensitive author of penny romance novels. Later Mildred returns, pregnant, and confesses that the man for whom she had abandoned Philip never married her.
Philip breaks off his relationship with Norah and supports Mildred financially, though he can ill afford to do so. To Philip's dismay, after Mildred has her baby she falls in love with his good friend Harry Griffiths, and runs away with him. About a year later, Philip runs into Mildred again and, feeling sympathy for her, takes her in again. Though he no longer loves her, he becomes attached to her baby. When he rejects her advances, she becomes angry with him, destroys most of his belongings, and leaves forever. In shame, and quickly running out of money, Philip leaves the house for good. He meets Mildred once more towards the end of the novel, when she summons him for his medical opinion. As she is probably suffering from syphilis resulting from her work as a prostitute, Philip advises Mildred to give up this life. Mildred declines and exits from the plot, her fate remaining unknown.
While working at a hospital, Philip befriends family man, Thorpe Athelny. Athelny has lived in Toledo, Spain. Enthusiastic about the country, he is translating the works of St. John of the Cross. Meanwhile, Philip invests in mines but is left nearly penniless because of events surrounding the Boer War. Unable to pay his rent, he wanders the streets for several days before the Athelnys take him in and find him a department store job, which he hates. His talent for drawing is discovered and he receives a promotion and a raise in salary, but his time at the store is short-lived. After his uncle William dies, Philip inherits enough money to allow him to finish his medical studies and he finally becomes a licensed doctor. Philip takes on a temporary placement at a hospital with Dr. South, an old, cantankerous physician whose wife is dead and whose daughter has broken off contact with him. However, Dr. South takes a shine to Philip's humour and personable nature, eventually offering Philip a partnership in his medical practice. Although flattered, Philip refuses because of his plans to visit Spain.
He soon goes on a small summer vacation with the Athelnys, hop-picking in the Kent countryside. There he finds that one of Athelny's daughters, Sally, likes him. In a moment of romantic abandon one evening they have sex, and when she thinks she is pregnant, Philip decides to marry Sally and accept Dr. South's offer, instead of traveling the world as he had planned. They meet in the National Gallery where, despite learning that it was a false alarm, Philip becomes engaged to Sally, concluding that "the simplest pattern, that in which a man was born, worked, married, had children, and died, was likewise the most perfect." He stops searching for happiness and decides to be content with his lot.

Tags: romantic, cruelty

Review:
Bette Davis became a star with her role in this first and best film adaptation of the Somerset Maugham novel of the same name (well worth a read).
This was her first nomination for an Academy Award, for her portrayal of Mildred Rogers; a tawdry, sluttish, cockney waitress who bewitches hapless Philip Carey (Leslie Howard, best known for his role as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone With the Wind").
(father of Alan Hale Jr., who was the skipper on the TV series "Gilligan's Isle"), and a breathtakingly beautiful Frances Dee.The film starts out with Philip, a failed art student with a clubfoot of which he is highly sensitive, turning to the study of medicine after facing the fact that he has no artistic talent.
Her standard response to his affectionate overtures is a chilly "I don't mind." In his dreams Mildred is sweet and kind to him; during real time she uses him, well aware of his affection for her, leaving him for other men and returning when she is down on her luck, ruining his chance for having a career or a normal life with another woman; he seems to continually finds himself inexorably drawn to her, even after his love for her has waned, until the day she finally pushes him too far.At that point, the camera fully turns to Mildred as her facial expression shifts from supplication to shock to full-on bitch in a matter of seconds, and she reacts to Philip's statement with a barrage of blood-curdling insults.
Also she'd gotten this break through role at another studio so they weren't going to make a dime on it.Two years later Leslie Howard and Bette Davis would team up again in The Petrified Forest.
...that the Bette Davis version of this film was better than the Kim Novak version.Despite all of the other comments written here, I really prefer the Bette Davis version, even though the Novak version has a more coherent story line.However: Davis' Mildred's raw emotions seem to me to be more apt to a sluttish girl who seems easily to become a prostitute.And it is those raw emotions that constitute *part* of what the poor doctor falls in love with.
It has no shock value today, just fine acting.While the cast is excellent, this is Bette Davis's first great role and one of Leslie Howard's best performances.
Perhaps author/physician Maugham didn't care for distaff medicos).Having tea one day Carey is entranced by a waitress, Mildred Rogers, Bette Davis in a role as a morally loose and basically wicked farrago.
Another separation from Mildred and Carey begins a long-term friendship with Sally, abetted enthusiastically by her dad who seems to view eventual marriage as both a good thing for the two young people and a chance to be relieved of one of his nine offspring.The movie reasonably but not entirely follows Maugham's excellent novel.
So there is no question that Ms Davis knew from the start what she was doing.The film, which tells about a medical student Phillip Carey (Leslie Howard) which falls unhappily in love with Cockney waitress Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis), has a few week points, but many more strong ones.
But it's the message of this movie that is so powerful, Davis and Howard are simply the messengers, albeit great ones."Of Human Bondage" is the story of unrequited love, and hopeless bondage to another.
But Bette Davis' performance in BONDAGE makes the film every bit as good as the book itself.
The great British actor Leslie Howard, playing the club-footed medical student who becomes infatuated with Mildred, seems over-powered, and possibly intimidated by his co-star.
Shockingly, Davis didn't receive so much as an Oscar nomination for her brilliant performance, and when she won a year later for the tired melodrama DANGEROUS, everyone(including Bette herself) assumed it was out of sympathy for not receiving her full due for this film..
One afternoon Philip is at a local café with a fellow medical student and spots pretty waitress Mildred Rogers, Bette Davis, and immediately falls in love with her.
When he meets the cold cockney waitress Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis) in a restaurant, the shy Philip has a crush on her but she rejects him.
Even as a pretty young woman who occasionally wore designer clothes and Constance Bennett-type makeup in films, Davis was willing to ravage herself in order to create a character on the outside as well as the inside.Her determination is amply demonstrated here in her breakout film, "Of Human Bondage," in which she stars with Leslie Howard as Philip Carey.
Davis plays Mildred, a slutty, manipulative, greedy low-life to Howard's masochistic, club-footed Philip.
Leslie Howard is well cast as the withdrawn English artist with a club foot desperately seeking a partner and making a bad choice in a scheming little waitress.Towards the end of the film the young doctor meets his true love in a busy street.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Basic plot:Club-footed medical student and artist Phillip Carey(Leslie Howard)fall's for sleazy,slutty London waitress Mildred(Bette Davis),but she ignores him when he's obsessed with her and she come's back when he's dating other women (one played by Frances Dee)with a new sexual vengeance and desire.The praise:The performance's of Davis and Howard are both very good;you sense an excellent interaction between Davis's lightning-like,over-the-top,red-hot,tawdry performance and the understated emotion and obsession of Howard's role.These roles helped catapolt both to stardom.Also the sweaty,crowded,dark atmosphere of London help to enhance it as well.The Flaw's:Despite the performance integrity ,the film still is creaky and primitive, with some unintentional laugh's along the way.As well, the tape I saw was poor quality,diminishing the overall effect..
Phillip's (Leslie Howard) attraction to Mildred (Bette Davis) is so utterly inexplicable as to make the scenario seem like the post-breakup retelling of a relationship from the man's point of view.
Leslie Howard smoothly presents the character of club-footed Philip Carey, failed-artist-then-medical student who develops a disastrous dependency on a slattern waitress played by Bette Davis.
Bette Davis's Cockney accent is dreadful, poor lass, but having said that, her acting is the only good thing in this film: Leslie Howerd is dire and the only bit-parter worth his salt is Alan Hale: the characters of Harry, Sally, Sally's father and Norah are all poorly drawn and the film attempts to cover far too long a time span.
Here in Of Human Bondage Bette Davis plays Mildred Rogers, a woman perceived as cold and nasty.
Easy to watch and get drawn into, not that dated at all, and a good story we can all relate to.Lots of reviews here waxing lyrical about Bette Davis' bawdy performance, and in general I go along with them, bar her pitiful attempt at a cockney accent.Its worse than Dick van Dykes (Mary Poppins) and I never thought I'd say that about anyone.
Although Bette Davis did a WONDERFUL job as Mildred, I felt that the film wasn't the best I had seen.
That's because the characters portrayed by:Leslie Howard, whose bondage to his weaknesses, and his strengths, is solidly played to reveal the process of being human so we all can see how big decisions are best made;Betty Davis, whose performance, though somewhat forced in her early career, none the less provides the crucial lynchpin of evil and pain that comes from an unloved early life;andFrances Dee, who, though young yet deeply talented, shows us the absolute power of love.While many cite the importance of this role to Bette Davis' career, this reviewer finds that the now mostly forgotten Frances Dee, whose real beauty is not only in her gorgeous appearance, but even better is in the rock solid foundation of her own ability to portray the absolute strength of love.It is hard for this reviewer to not be entranced by Frances Dee. Her work in this film is the real show stealer.
Considering thatat the time not much can be shown on the screen, [not that there is much in the novel] the obsession of the character with Mildred [Bette Davis] is very well conveyed to the audience.
Of Human Bondage is one of these old movies that fell into the public domain by lack of copyright renewal, therefore it is widely available and when I saw that it had both Bette Davis - who I enjoyed in All About Eve (1950) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962) with her characteristic gaze; and Leslie Howard who was in Gone with the Wind (1939) but also in the lesser known The Petrified Forest (1936), a friend and supporter of Humphrey Bogart he helped him rise to fame.In the film, Philip Carey is a young English man living in Paris hoping to become a painter.
Philip and Mildred are unable to live together yet their paths will cross many times and again.The best thing in the movie has to be Bette Davis' performance of the cold and cynical Mildred.
Somerset Maugham's characters are brought to life in RKO's "Of Human Bondage"; but the movie is a too skeletal version of the novel, with Bette Davis' star-making performance sucking up all of the energy.
His efforts seem to indicate some bad advice regarding the arts; though successful in medicine, his painting seemed easier - also, note the symbolism of his disability, a "club foot" (explained in the film).Along the way (right away, in this version), Howard becomes infatuated with waitress Davis (as Mildred Rogers).
Grace Moore - "One Night of Love" ******* Of Human Bondage (6/28/34) John Cromwell ~ Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Reginald Denny.
Of Human Bondage may seem dated to some, but the concept of being head over heels with someone (who, more often than not, does not love you back) will always be relevant as it is human nature.Bette Davis is in her element as the worthless tea waitress who Leslie Howard's character falls for (who knows why?
Leslie Howard and a very young Bette Davis were both pretty good in this movie about a young medical student who becomes infatuated (obsessed might be a better word) with a waitress he chances upon who, while not returning his feelings of affection, is quite willing to get what she can out of the relationship.
Leslie Howard and Bette Davis gave some of their best performances in this movie, and truly gave us reason to feel for each of the characters and want the best for them.Leslie's performance make me wondered why he's not mentioned more often as one of the greats of this era.
W. Somerset Maugham's novel, about a guttersnipe waitress in London who becomes the object of a smitten doctor's obsession, becomes intriguing film giving Bette Davis one of the first startling, showy roles of her early career.
The clip showed Bette Davis as Mildred Rogers verbally attacking Leslie Howard who plays Philip Carey and I was shocked at the verosity aimed his way.
He cannot function and as a cruel twist she meets men and dumps him constantly.She does this many times and many times poor Philip picks himself up and engages back into his own life and meeting other women but soon the bad penny comes back knocking at his door and he falls every time and allows her back.Bette Davis plays this cockney, dirty sleep around character and by golly she plays a stellar performance as does Leslie Howard.
She's Mildred, the slatternly waitress at the centre of W Somerset Maugham's "Of Human Bondage" who makes life miserable for the men who come into contact with her, and in particular for Philip, the young medic who worships her, (Leslie Howard, very good).The problem is that Mildred is meant to be a Cockney and Bette was simply unable to put across the accent, though to be fair she does make a fair stab at a Cockney trying to sound posh.
She certainly remains one of the least sympathetic characters in all of fiction and you can see how Davis' performance cemented her 'there's-no-one-better-than-Bette-when-she's-bad' reputation and leaving the accent aside she really is very good.Indeed, of the three versions of the novel to be filmed this is still the best though none of them do the original justice, (I've never understood why a fine British actress has never been cast in the part).
Davis gives one of the best performances imaginable, as Mildred the cockney ed, cocktail waitress, bored and frustrated with life, who unleashes utter havoc to Leslie Howard, who befriends her, in a memorable tirade.Davis sure proved that she was entitled to outstanding roles after this film.
But you know, the movie's not half bad, and it even manages to retain much of what makes the book resonate so much with its readers.I've heard many film buffs complain that Leslie Howard was a wet noodle of an actor, and he was, but I can't think of anyone more suited to play the role of Philip Carey than a wet noodle, for that's certainly what Carey is.
Betty Davis, (Mildred Rogers) gave an outstanding performance that will be admired for many generations and the great acting of Leslie Howard, (Philip Carey) who fell madly in love with Mildred.
Set at the turn of the century the story shows the tragic passion of a crippled young doctor (Leslie Howard)for a lowbrow, cockney waitress (Bette Davis).
As Mildred Rogers, Davis burst forth with a completely unsympathetic role of a slutty waitress who becomes the target of Leslie Howard's affections, and already eager to sink her teeth into a role like this, she had no qualms of the awful things her character was meant to do throughout the course of the film and the awful transformation she would undergo.
The story is somewhat stilted, what with the main character's sudden reversals of fortune, but Leslie Howard and Bette Davis's portrayals of Philip Carey, the naïve obsessed lover and Mildred Rogers, the unworthy object of his affections, raise this film considerably above standard melodrama.Sensitive, cultured Philip, who for most of the picture is in bondage to first his infatuation and then his pity for Mildred is not unlike a character Howard was to play a few years later--Ashley Wilkes, the Southern gentleman too refined and decent to make it in the rough Reconstruction era.
It is perhaps this passivity, these lowered expectations that makes him put up with the selfish Cockney waitress for as long as he does.Although Leslie Howard is memorable, today "Of Human Bondage" is mainly thought of as a Bette Davis picture, perhaps because of the well known story of how she had to fight Jack Warner to get the part of Mildred, and perhaps too because movie audiences tend to prefer characters with her sort of brash energy.
I pity people who think that what Philip (Howard) feels for Mildred (Davis) is LOVE!
This film and this portrayal by Davis are classic not because they are great, but because they are groundbreaking.Also, Leslie Howard's Philip, while sensitive and intellectual, is a real weakling.
Here he is a man with low self-esteem who is set up to be betrayed.Philip finds that betrayal in the form of Mildred a Cockney waitress (Bette Davis) who is mercenary and as selfish as they come.
Set in a London that only Hollywood could manage, atmospheric but nothing like the real thing, it is a story of obsession and thwarted love, from the novel by Somerset Maughan.I was looking forward to seeing it on DVD as I had never seen it before and being a great admirer of Bette Davis wanted to see her in a role considered one of her early great ones.
Leslie Howard does a fine job as the sympathetic Phillip but it is Bette Davis who dominates as Mildred, a character it is impossible to like with her barely concealed contempt for the man who keeps helping her.
It's interesting to note how Bette Davis and Leslie Howard reversed character from the ones they portrayed in this film and those they played in "The Petrified Forest" just a couple of years later.
Mildred is too self-centred to be in love with Miller or any other person."Of Human Bondage" is sometimes described as the film that made Bette Davis a star.
At one point in this film he utters to her, "I know that you will never love me," which is not unlike a line he makes to Scarlett 5 years later.Howard is excellent here and Davis playing the bad girl is great.