Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in the pre-Code classic “Of Human Bondage”

Of Human Bondage (1934) is a pre-Code drama directed by John Cromwell and starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, and Francis Dee. The film was based on W. Somerset Maugham’s 1915 novel. The music was by Max Steiner.

Leslie Howard and Bette Davis

Leslie Howard stars as Philip Carey a club-footed British man studying art in Paris. After his teacher tells him that he really has no talent as an artist, he returns to London to study medicine. While in London, he falls desperately in love with a waitress named Mildred Rogers (Davis). Philip’s passion is constantly spurned by Mildred, but he finds himself hopelessly drawn to her, to the point of financial and personal ruin.

Will Philip escape from his destructive infatuation with Mildred or will it destroy his life and medical career?

Of Human Bondage is a pre-Code film. Films released before 1934 did not follow strict rules as to what themes or characters could be expressed onscreen. Prior to the implementation of the Production Code, the public was becoming concerned with explicit film content. Rather than be subjected to government oversight, the movie studios united to create and live by a set of rules that each studio would abide by. With the collapse of the studio system, the Production Code ended in 1968 in favor of the film rating system we have today.

John Cromwell (1886 – 1979) was an American film and stage director. Cromwell started his career as an actor on the stage and in the early days of talking pictures. He was under contract to Paramount where he directed many pre-Code films. Some of the stars he directed during this time included Kay Francis, William Powell, and Jean Arthur. In 1933, he moved to RKO and directed Irene Dunne in Ann Vickers (1933), Spitfire (1934) with Katharine Hepburn, and Of Human Bondage (1934) with Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. Of Human Bondage was a tremendous box office success and made Cromwell a top director in Hollywood. Other films he directed include Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Since You Went Away (1944), Anna and the Kind of Siam (1946), and Dead Reckoning. He is the father of actor James Cromwell.

Leslie Howard (1893 – 1943) was an English film and stage actor. He was a popular movie star on both sides of the Atlantic, working in both England and the United States. He is probably best remembered for playing Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939), but Howard was a big box office draw during the 1930s starring in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), The Petrified Forest (1936), Pygmalion (1938), and Intermezzo (1939). Howard’s life and career were cut short when the plane he was flying in was shot down over the Atlantic in 1943 during World War II.

Bette Davis eyes!

Bette Davis (1908 – 1989) was an American actress who had a career on stage and screen that spanned more than 50 years. Davis came to Hollywood in 1930 and within four years of her arrival, she was one of its biggest stars winning her first Best Actress Academy Award for her role in Dangerous (1935). Her starring role in Jezebel (1938) won her a second Best Actress Oscar. Davis would go on to star in many popular films during the 1940s including Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), and Now, Voyager (1942). In 1950 she starred as Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950), a role she is probably most identified with today. Other popular films include The Old Maid (1939), All This and Heaven Too (1940), Mr. Skeffington (1944), and The Corn is Green (1945).

Of Human Bondage trivia:

• Bette Davis begged Jack Warner to let her out of her contract so she could star in the film.
• Katherine Hepburn, Ann Sheridan, and Irene Dunne all turned down the part of Mildred.
• Leslie Howard was not happy that an American was cast as Mildred, but Davis eventually won him over.
• The film premiered at Radio City Music Hall on June 28, 1934.

To watch the film on YouTube, click on the link below.

To join the discussion on Zoom on January 26, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will get an invitation with links to the discussion.

Questions for discussion:

1. Why do you think Philip was drawn to Mildred?
2. Why did Philip choose Mildred over Norah?
3. Davis’s performance was considered a tour de force when released. Do you think it holds up by today’s acting standards?
4. This movie was made during the pre-Code era. Did you notice things in this film that you didn’t see in films released after 1934?

A Look at the Life and Times of Bette Davis

A very young and very blond, Bette Davis

By Kate Voss

Bette Davis was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis in Lowell, Massachusetts on April 5, 1908. When she was only seven, her parents separated, and Bette was promptly sent to a boarding school. In 1921, at the age of 13, she moved to New York with her mother, and it was here where she first garnered an interest in acting. Inspired by the films she had seen, Bette auditioned and received a part in a school play, which only cemented her desire to be an actress. To further her dream, she enrolled into the John Murray School of Theatre, where she studied acting alongside a young Lucille Ball and dance with Martha Graham.

After securing a place in George Cukor’s stock theater company, Bette landed her first Broadway role in 1929’s Broken Dishes, which she soon followed up with a performance in Solid South. Upon the urging of a Hollywood talent scout she moved to Hollywood in 1930, where she landed a contract with Universal Pictures and starred in her first movie: The Bad Sister. She spent the next three years acting in 21 films, none of which secured her a place as a respected actress. Bette gained some attention when she starred in 1934’s Of Human Bondage, a film which earned her rave reviews. Afterwards, Bette took a role in the film Dangerous, which won her an Academy Award.

A tense scene from Juarez, left to right,
Paul Muni, Gale Sondergaard, and Davis

In 1936, after agreeing to star in two films in England, she became entangled in a breach of contract lawsuit with Warner Bros. Davis sued Warner Bros. in England, in an attempt to nullify her contract due to the fact that she felt the studio wasn’t giving her good parts. She lost the case, and the legal proceedings left her broke. However, her streak of bad luck ended quickly when she earned praise for her role as prostitute in Marked Woman which she followed with her second Academy Award winning performance in Jezebel in 1938. But, with professional success came personal failure; her first marriage to Ham Nelson fell apart, and the couple decided to divorce. As has been covered on this blog before, 1939 was Davis’s most profound acting year; fans saw her star in Dark Victory, Juarez, The Old Maid, and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. She quickly became of the most commercially and critically successful actresses in Hollywood, as well as one of the most famous and respected.

Paul Henried and Davis between takes on
the set of Now, Voyager

Bette started the 1940’s with more professional successes like The Great Lie, as well as a new husband, Arthur Farnsworth. Then, the year of 1941 saw her star in one of her most famous roles: Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes, which landed her the sixth Academy Award nomination of her career. She spent 1942 leading Hollywood’s war effort by selling $2 million worth of war bonds in two days and opening The Hollywood Canteen, where movie stars would entertain servicemen. That same year she starred in another iconic role for her in Now, Voyager. She continued her successes until her husband suddenly died after suffering a skull fracture, causing her to behave erratically on the set of her next film, Mr. Skeffington. While she did remarry and have a daughter in the late 1940’s, her career was in a state a flux. After a series of box office failures, she was released from her contract with Warner Bros.

Joan Crawford and Davis in a publicity still
for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

However, in 1950 she returned, guns blazing, as Margo Channing in All About Eve, which is widely regarded as her best film, the film is still so popular that it’s widely available through many streaming sites and video on demand services from most cable and satellite TV providers. That same year, she ended her third marriage and married her fourth husband, her co star Gary Merrill. Unfortunately, her career started to dwindle as the 50’s continued and she ended the decade appearing mostly on television. Never one to be counted out, she made yet another triumphant comeback in 1961’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? alongside longtime nemesis Joan Crawford which earned her one last Academy Award nomination. She continued to act in films in the 1960’s like Dead Ringer, Where Love Has Gone, and Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

Davis as Margo Channing

The first few years of the 1970’s saw Davis tour Australia and England in a one woman show discussing her life and work. She attempted a few television pilots, but none were picked up, and she continued to take supporting roles in films like  Burnt Offerings. She did manage to win an Emmy for her work on made-for-TV movie Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter in 1979. Bette began to suffer many health set backs in the early 80’s, including a fight with breast cancer that resulted in a mastectomy and a series of four strokes that left her paralyzed on her left side. Despite her suffering, her adopted daughter B.D. Hyman published a scathing memoir about her mother called My Mother’s Keeper in 1985, which Davis always stated was fabricated. Bette continued to do work for television until she discovered her cancer had returned in 1989 while in France, where she passed away on October 6th.

Her acting legacy and personality have let Davis live on for many years following her passing. With a staggering 11 Academy Award nominations, 2 wins, a career spanning 50 years, countless fans, and the praise and respect of some of the most well regarded directors, actors, and critics, Davis will always remain a Hollywood icon.

Guest blogger, Kate Voss is an entertainment blogger from Chicago. A romantic at-heart, she will be delighting in the classical works of Wilder and Frank Capra this Valentine's Day. You can find her on Twitter at @Kateevoss.