Bette Davis wanted to prove herself to herself and to her studio when she begged Jack Warner to let her go to RKO to work with Leslie Howard in this ground breaking movie. Ground breaking because no Hollywood Star had quite played such a role, the role of a slattern, ignorant, will full, and cruel woman, and Davis, seeing what could be done played her part to the hilt, a real scandal erupted around Hollywood when Miss Bette Davis was not on the 1934 Academy Award and at the Warner Bros. lot actress Joan Blondell and husband Dick Powell fought so hard and yelled so loudly at the award members that a "write in vote' was permitted for Davis. Claudette Colbert won the award for It Happened One Night. And as for poor Eleanor Parker, well, Warner Bros. did by the property from RKO and wanted to promote Ms. Parker and gave her the part of Mildred. The wardrobe dept must have been given specific orders to make Eleanor look as much like Ingrid Bergman did in Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde that it was a huge distraction from her performance and the screenplay was nothing more than adequate. Finally the Kim Novak version of Maugham's Of Human Bondage turned out to be the best of the lot. Ms. Novak was always given short shrift from the critics all through her career but I thought she essayed this role to perfection. Also, never a fan of Lawrence Harvey I thought that he was somehow right for this role as well. The music helped. A lot! From the statue of The Lovers to the very end always leaves me with a lump in the throat. This isn't a great story to begin with so that Ms. Novak and Mr Harvey could bring the characters to life is a major event. I would give it an 8 out of 10.
Review of Of Human Bondage
