Classic Film Review: Of Human Bondage (1934)

Of Human Bondage is labelled as Bette Davis's breakout role and she certainly shines as Mildred, a cold-hearted woman who winds trainee doctor Philip Carey (Leslie Howard) around her little finger. Following their initial meeting in a cafe, Carey is smitten, despite the fact that Mildred only tolerates him because he adores her. Although he breaks away and manages relationships with Norah (Kay Johnson) and Sally (Frances Dee), there's always the chance the Mildred will pop up and ruin everything. The film is based on the book by W. Somerset Maugham (reviewed here last year).

Leslie Howard portrays the slightly uncertain Carey magnificently but, really, this film belongs to Davis. Although her accent wobbles at times that's negated by her otherwise excellent performance. The major confrontation scene as Mildred tells Carey what she really thinks of him should go down as one of her best moments on film.

In other ways, Of Human Bondage falters a little. It's difficult to stomach Carey allowing her to repeatedly ruin his life, even more so than it was in the book. Although his club foot goes some way to explaining his choices, it's used as an all-encompassing tool to stop much character introspection. Equally, the way the film flits about a lot can be distracting, fragmenting an exceptionally long book into numerous bites of scene that occasionally only scratch the surface.

It's difficult to say a lot about this film because it essentially repeats the same pattern: Carey gets his life together, Mildred ruins it. However, there are some excellent moments in this and it's worth watching for Davis's performance alone.