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Of Human Bondage

Play trailer Poster for Of Human Bondage 1964 1h 38m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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50% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Adapted from W. Somerset Maugham's novel, this saga of unrequited love follows club-footed English art student Philip Carey (Laurence Harvey) in his quest to win the love of slatternly waitress Mildred Rogers (Kim Novak), a vulgar beauty who holds Philip's deformity in contempt. Giving up art for medicine and vowing to shake his unhealthy obsession with Mildred, Philip romances a supportive writer -- but when pregnant and abandoned Mildred appears, Philip's self-destructive feelings return.
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Of Human Bondage

Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 03/26/2009
Allowing for the fact that Bryan Forbes’ screenplay is light on humor, Harvey nevertheless plays the role in such a stiff, martyred manner as to forfeit any sympathy or liking in the audience. Go to Full Review A.H. Weiler New York Times 05/09/2005
Time has not paled his incisive, brooding and anguished quasi-biography. But the current adaptation merely evolves as a surface, stoic old-fashioned tale...in which lip service substitutes for the truly poignant, self-revelatory story from which it stems. Go to Full Review Elizabeth Hardwick Vogue 06/20/2023
[A] desperate [remake]... Old, vicious Bette Davis and weak, love-enslaved Leslie Howard hover, ghosts on the TV screen. Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 02/29/2012
B-
Though Kim Novak is not Bette Davis, this third version of Maugham's popular book is more truthful to the literay source, maintaining its realistic tone and sordid ending. Go to Full Review Steve Crum Video-Reviewmaster.com 06/08/2005
3/5
Remake of Bette Davis classic is OK. Go to Full Review Brian Webster Apollo Guide 01/01/2000
79/100
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Audience Reviews

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Steve D @RT35616104 01/26/2024 Probably the weakest version but still ok. See more Deke P @RT96675217 03/13/2023 I saw this on tv set, yars ... decades ago... & I remember I thot it was eggselent. & I was exceedingly smitten by Kim Novak. Hubba hubba. See more 09/27/2013 costumes suck this is the worst version of this See more 03/23/2013 Kim Novak is gorgeous, though miscast, and there is a beautiful score by Ron Goodwin, but the film is wooden and dull. This third film adaptation of the novel is cold and sterile, resulting in the the audience being forced to watch a doomed romance where you don't really care about the characters involved. See more 02/06/2013 It's worth it for Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey. It really is melodramatic and at times hard to watch due to the content. The performances of the main leads are the best but it's played out without much substance. It isn't all bad and has it's moments but not worth it unless you really are fans of either of the main leads... See more 07/25/2012 My e-mail vassilijean@yahoo.fr , my address : Jean KHOURY 7 rue LEON BLUM 67000 STRASBOURG FRANCE I would like to see "OF HUMAN BONDAGE". I saw it, 40 years ago, in Alexandria (EGYPT). I am fond of NOVAK and HARVEY interpretation. Jean Khoury See more Read all reviews
Of Human Bondage

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Cast & Crew

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Bryan Forbes

Director

Ken Hughes

Director

Kim Novak

Mildred Rogers

Laurence Harvey

Philip Carey

Robert Morley

Dr. Jacobs

Siobhan McKenna

Nora Nesbitt

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Of Human Bondage

Of Human Bondage (1964) Of Human Bondage (1964) Of Human Bondage (1964) Of Human Bondage (1964) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Adapted from W. Somerset Maugham's novel, this saga of unrequited love follows club-footed English art student Philip Carey (Laurence Harvey) in his quest to win the love of slatternly waitress Mildred Rogers (Kim Novak), a vulgar beauty who holds Philip's deformity in contempt. Giving up art for medicine and vowing to shake his unhealthy obsession with Mildred, Philip romances a supportive writer -- but when pregnant and abandoned Mildred appears, Philip's self-destructive feelings return.
Director
Bryan Forbes, Ken Hughes
Producer
James Woolf
Screenwriter
Bryan Forbes
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 23, 1964, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 38m
Sound Mix
Mono