Of Human Bondage

Cautious adaptation of Somerset Maugham's tragic tale features the electric performance by Bette Davis that made her a star. Today, it looks a trifle much, but given time and circumstance--the stylized acting of the early sound era, and her desire to be noticed--it's a blistering job.

Club-footed Philip Carey (Howard) studies painting in Paris but realizes that his work will never be more than second-rate, so he returns to England and begins to study medicine. Davis is Mildred, a blond tart whom he meets in the restaurant where she works as a waitress. She manipulates his affection cruelly, but even though she later breaks off the relationship to marry Emil Mill...