Cast: Bette Davis, Leslie Howard
Director: John Cromwell
Screenplay: Lester Cohen
Running time: 1 hr 23 mins
Genre: Drama
CRITIQUE:
Before Of Human Bondage, Bette Davis was a star deprived of its sparkle. If not playing a supporting role, she was recycled by Warner Bros. to stereotypes in studio-factory gloss. In other words, unchallenging roles for an actor who was capable of so much more. A banter and loan of contract later, Davis transferred to RKO temporarily and played Mildred Rogers, a self-centred, self-destructive Cockney waitress-cum-tramp, in this London-set tale of unrequited love and human infallibility based on the famous W. Somerset Maugham’s novel. As though the stars were perfectly aligned, Davis’ career set off in the right pitch. And she is not even the film’s central character. It is Leslie Howard’s club-footed Philip Carey, a gentleman in love with painting and this particular waitress, whom he become solely attached to. Howard provides gentility to his role, a virtuously quite performance compared to Davis’ visceral one. Henceforth, she is spectacular as Rogers, bringing ferocity, unpredictability and tragedy to this scamp woman whose pursuit to happiness is a selfish one, both sex-and-booze addled. It is a shocking role for an era of conservatism. That final scene where she appears almost lifeless, Davis had reportedly done her own make-up to uglify herself. Nobody in Hollywood would have the right mind to play such character that is as capricious as any tramp, nor did any actor at that period would dare to deglamorise their image. But she did. Davis attracted controversy, and with this, the limelight was on. Even the Oscar snub caused a hellfire that she was considered a write-in ballot, an act which Oscars abolished nowadays. That said, here was a fearless actress who would later become one of Hollywood’s brightest and most illustrious stars. Ever.
VERDICT:
A quietly dignified act from Leslie Howard polarised by Bette Davis’ spectacular, breakthrough performance. This is a riveting drama, unmatched by the two remakes it spawned.
RATING: A-
Before Of Human Bondage, Bette Davis was a star deprived of its sparkle. If not playing a supporting role, she was recycled by Warner Bros. to stereotypes in studio-factory gloss. In other words, unchallenging roles for an actor who was capable of so much more. A banter and loan of contract later, Davis transferred to RKO temporarily and played Mildred Rogers, a self-centred, self-destructive Cockney waitress-cum-tramp, in this London-set tale of unrequited love and human infallibility based on the famous W. Somerset Maugham’s novel. As though the stars were perfectly aligned, Davis’ career set off in the right pitch. And she is not even the film’s central character. It is Leslie Howard’s club-footed Philip Carey, a gentleman in love with painting and this particular waitress, whom he become solely attached to. Howard provides gentility to his role, a virtuously quite performance compared to Davis’ visceral one. Henceforth, she is spectacular as Rogers, bringing ferocity, unpredictability and tragedy to this scamp woman whose pursuit to happiness is a selfish one, both sex-and-booze addled. It is a shocking role for an era of conservatism. That final scene where she appears almost lifeless, Davis had reportedly done her own make-up to uglify herself. Nobody in Hollywood would have the right mind to play such character that is as capricious as any tramp, nor did any actor at that period would dare to deglamorise their image. But she did. Davis attracted controversy, and with this, the limelight was on. Even the Oscar snub caused a hellfire that she was considered a write-in ballot, an act which Oscars abolished nowadays. That said, here was a fearless actress who would later become one of Hollywood’s brightest and most illustrious stars. Ever.
VERDICT:
A quietly dignified act from Leslie Howard polarised by Bette Davis’ spectacular, breakthrough performance. This is a riveting drama, unmatched by the two remakes it spawned.
RATING: A-
