Alan Hale, Bette Davis, Desmond Roberts

The interior life of a natural-born introvert is a tricky thing to convey in any story medium, but perhaps nowhere more than in feature films. Fortunately for this 1934 version of Of Human Bondage<...( read more  read more... )/I> (the first of three), the introverted young doctor at the center of the story is played by Leslie Howard, who makes a slack spirit and puppet-of-destiny ennui look like a GQ ad from the age of Romanticism. Howard's character, well liked by peers and facing a promising future, becomes a slave to self-destructive impulse when he grows obsessed with a mercurial, promiscuous waitress (Bette Davis). She stands him up, she lets him down, she sleeps around--basically doing anything she can think of to humiliate the plaintive, puppyish Howard. The good doctor's prospects soon sink... and then sink again and again every time she reappears, usually in dire circumstances, after prolonged absences. Much of Howard's performance borders on monotony, but how many ways can an actor show what it's like to lean against desks and ponder the enigma of himself? At least he looks classy while doing so. Meanwhile, Davis's electric performance, one of her best, gives director John Cromwell's slow pacing a shot in the arm. The supporting cast is very good: Alan Hale, Frances Dee, and Cromwell's then-wife, Kay Johnson, do a fine job helping to fill in the silences. Adapted from the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. --Tom Keogh

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70% liked it

1,925 ratings

Critics

78% liked it

9 critics

Unrated, 83 min.

Directed by: John Cromwell

Release Date: July 20, 1934

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DVD Release Date: May 8, 2001

Stats: 124 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (124)


  • January 27, 2008
    A sad and pitiful love story, and an interesting film.
  • August 28, 2009
    Davis owned this alright.. what a character
  • May 7, 2009
    This film is brilliant, not only in story line but also because of the way they use the camera to tell the story regardless of the actors in front of it, this is a film that really revels in the art which is film making
  • March 21, 2009
    Proves to me that the book is indeed a timeless classic. This short movie version is good, but of course you can't get the full effect unless you read the thousand plus pages.
  • January 27, 2009
    great lines still the best version
  • January 19, 2009
    The unabridged version of the the novel simply can't be adapted to the screen.
  • January 3, 2009
    No thankyou - Not interested
  • April 25, 2008
    Yes, it was predictable, it kept going around in circles, I felt sorry for Philip and I hated Mildred, but all these somehow make me love the movie more. Excellent use of technology, it got annoying at times with the transitioning from one scene to another, but it did make the ...( read more)movie flow. Bette Davis was so beautiful in this, I can understand why Philip kept coming back...

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Of Human Bondage Trivia


  • What job does Bette Davis hold in Of Human Bondage?  Answer »
  • This movie was the first in which Bette Davis appeared to major critical acclaim, after a string of flops and small appearances:  Answer »
  • One of Bette Davis's film performances did not garner her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, so many displeased voters wrote her name in on their ballots. This was for her performance in  Answer »
  • Bette Davis, early in her career, was a serious contender for the Oscar for Best Actress one year ... without being nominated. Her name was written in on many ballots. For which film was this?  Answer »

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