Evening star., 1946-09-13


fixed, fascinated public for the stol
Human Bondage" for contempors
tale of London tart who capti-
waited and trapped crippled aristo-
crat has lost heavily of its dra-
matte verve in this retelling In
the hands of the cast, headed by
Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker
and directed by Edmond Goulding,
1t looks ersatz and unconvincing,
which certainly is no way to do JUS
tice to a semiclassic.
AS Vaughan discovered when the
plot first occurred to him, "Of HUI
man Bondage" is no easy story to
tell. In inept or inexperienced
hands, the strange passion of Philip
Carey for Mildred Rogers can come
OF as implausible, could even look
absurd. 1t escapes the latter in the
screenplay which opened yesterday,
but 1t is by no means always believ-
able. When Howard and Miss Da-
Wis played Philip and Mildred,
Maughams point that morally
abominable woman can be hopeless
clearer. 1t enabled audiences to
understand Philip and give him
their sympathy even when they felt
his taste was atrociouS and his
courage pathetic That understand
ing is lost at too many passages in
the current version, which was not
what Vaughan intended. Nor
what audiences have come to eX-
pect of one of the best titles in
20th century fiction.
Against the ajor fault of heavi- /.
ness along the main story line, Di- |
rector Goulding has worked into
the Earles melodrama succession |
of gemlike ssides which make its
slow pace easier to take. He is I'M |
pressively backstopped in this de-
psrtment by a cast which includes
some of the cinema S best character
players, most notably Edmund
Gwenn. Gwenns Father Anthel- /.
nv is beloved rogue to make up
for the shortcomings Of several
much more important cast players
In "Of Human Bondage" He is
the pictures greatest relief from
Miss Parkers overstridence as Mil
dred, Henreid's occasional overSoit
impersonation of Philip.
Catherine Turneys S screen rewrite
of Maugham shows every intention
of keeping faith with the master.
Where she errs is in taking too
great pains to tell one OF the
strangest of modern love stories
literally. Her Mildred land Miss
parker's) is one of the most worth
less women ever to earn a good
mans devotion. She is eXcrutiat-
ingly dull, mean spirited beyond
eredulity, totally without morals
and physically plain. There Is no
reason in human experience why
gentle, artistic, sensitive Philip
Carey ever should become her slave.
But when she tells him that he is
the only gentleman she ever met
he becomes her helpless victim, and
remains that regardless of how
long, or how often, she leaves him
to take up with mere male pass
ersby.
In the role that is credited with
making Bette Davis the screens
dominant female-the one that
started Miss Davis career Of wanton
women-Miss Parker finds herself
frequently over her head. Director
Goulding obviously has told her that
there is no limit of amorallty, yul-
sarity, and reprehensibility to which
Mildred's type will not go. The out
come of this advice is some moments
of overacting in climactic scenes
that nullify the excellent feeling for
the character which Miss Parker IN
telligently manages. ...
The incident with which Vaughan
enriched his tale of sordid love IN
London in 1897 is followed with
fidelity in the dark, expansive and
expensive production at the Earle.
After an artists ball prologue in
Paris which introduces Philip, the
story settles down in London. Its
backgrounds, as in the original, are
those of the hero, succession OF
changes of residence which show
the endlessly degrading effects of
his grotesque love. BY the time it
ends, with Mildred's death in a
loathesome contagious disease ward
in a public hospital, audiences have
been treated to some of Hollywood's
most inspired shabbinesses this sea-
son. Unhappily their dramatic ef-
feet is minimized by out-of-key per-
formances and the painfully delib-
crate pace of Goulding's direction.
Warmers obviously spent a proper
fortune on this remake of "Of HUI
man Bondage" The return on the
investment is greatest in some of
the minor performances and in nu-
merous of the aside sequences which
give the screenplay its only light