Of Human Bondage (1934)

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

W. Somerset Maugham (novel)
Lester Cohen (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

20 July 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The Love That Lifted a Man to Paradise......and Hurled Him Back to Earth Again

Plot:

Abandoning artistic ambitions, sensitive and club-footed Philip Carey enrolls in medical school and...

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Waitress | Inheritance | Medical Student | Betrayal

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Leslie Howard	...	Philip Carey
Bette Davis	...	Mildred Rogers
Frances Dee	...	Sally Athelny
Kay Johnson	...	Norah
Reginald Denny	...	Harry Griffiths
Alan Hale	...	Emil Miller
Reginald Sheffield	...	Cyril Dunsford
Reginald Owen	...	Thorpe Athelny
Desmond Roberts	...	Dr. Jacobs
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Coleman	...	(scenes deleted)
Frank Mills	...	Chimneysweep (scenes deleted)
Pat Somerset	...	(scenes deleted)
Harry Allen	...	Cabbie at End (uncredited)
Ray Atchley	...	J. Murphy (uncredited)
Frank Baker	...	Policeman Removing Mildred (uncredited)
Evelyn Beresford	...	Coughing Lady (uncredited)
Jimmy Casey	...	(uncredited)
Ma Curly	...	Charwoman (uncredited)
Byron Fitzpatrick	...	(uncredited)
Douglas Gordon	...	Hawker (voice) (uncredited)
Frankie Grandetta	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Tommy Hughes	...	Englishman (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Hospital Interne (uncredited)
Billy Mills	...	(uncredited)
Nat Neahan	...	Slim (uncredited)
Tempe Pigott	...	Agnes Hollett, Philip's Landlady (uncredited)
Irene Rich	...	Baby (uncredited)
Adrian Rosley	...	Mons. Flourney, Paris Art Teacher (uncredited)
Frank Schwab	...	(uncredited)
Al Sullivan	...	Jimmy Gray (uncredited)
Madeline Wilson	...	Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
John Cromwell

Writing credits
W. Somerset Maugham		(novel)
Lester Cohen		(screenplay)
Ann Coleman		(dialogue) uncredited

Produced by
Pandro S. Berman	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Henry W. Gerrard

Film Editing by
William Morgan

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark
Van Nest Polglase

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett

Makeup Department
Dot Carlson	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Dotha Hippe	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Sam Kaufman	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
J.R. Crone	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kenneth Holmes	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Dewey Starkey	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
George Gabe	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Clem Portman	....	sound recordist
Eddie Harman	....	assistant sound recordist (uncredited)
Harold E. Stine	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Robert Wise	....	apprentice sound effects editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	special photographic effects (as Vernon Walker)
Harry Redmond Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)
Harry Redmond Sr.	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Stunts
Sally Sage	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert De Grasse	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
George E. Diskant	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Guy Gilman	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Alexander Kahle	....	still photographer (uncredited)
George Marquenie	....	best boy (uncredited)
Sam Redding	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ethel Beach	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Tommy Clark	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Bernhard Kaun	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Betty Goode	....	script clerk (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Classics (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Monterey Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Moviecraft (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Delta Expedition (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Master Classics (????) (Brazil) (VHS) (as "Servidão Humana")
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• VTI Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS) (as "Escravos do Desejo")
• Weton Wesgram (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #53)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Bette Davis fully expected to be nominated for an Oscar for this, her breakthrough performance in films. When she was denied an official nomination, there was an attempt to make her a "write-in" candidate, a practice now barred by the Academy.

Quotes:

Mildred Rogers: You cad, you dirty swine! I never cared for you, not once! I was always makin' a fool of ya! Ya bored me stiff; I hated ya! It made me SICK when I had to let ya kiss me. I only did it because ya begged me, ya hounded me and drove me crazy! And after ya kissed me, I always used to wipe my mouth! WIPE MY MOUTH!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hesitation Blues

Still gives me goosebumps!

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"). She lost the award, receiving it for her role the following year for "Dangerous", which is generally viewed as a consolation prize.

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.

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. Shortly thereafter he meets and quickly becomes obsessed with Mildred, despite her sneering and obvious disdain for him because of his deformity. 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. Bette Davis as Mildred never fails to raise the hair on the back of my neck and arms with her performance in this particular scene.

This is the role that made Davis a star. It's also one of my all-time favorite Davis films, along with such others as "The Little Foxes", "The Letter", and "All About Eve".