Of Human Bondage

Of Human Bondage (1964)

SOME WOMEN CAN'T HELP BEING WHAT THEY ARE!

Medical student Philip Carey becomes involved with flirtatious waitress Mildred Rogers. Their love affair is interrupted when Philip is made aware of her constant infidelity. As Mildred quits her job and becomes a prostitute, Philip is still in love with her.

Date of release
1964-09-23
TMDB
6.1 / 10 (18)
Runtime
1h 40m
Genres
Drama
Director
Ken Hughes

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Of Human Bondage

Of Human Bondage is a 1964 British drama film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey in the roles played by Bette Davis and Leslie Howard three decades earlier in the original film version. This MGM release, the third screen adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1915 novel, was written by Bryan Forbes from the novel by Somerset Maugham.

Production

The first screen adaptation of Maugham's novel, made thirty years prior, starred Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker co-starred in the 1946 remake for Warner Bros.

In December 1961 it was announced that Laurence Harvey would play the male lead in a third screen version of Of Human Bondage. It was to be made in conjunction with Seven Arts Films with James Woolf to produce the following year; Peter Glenville was being pursued to direct. Harvey made numerous films for Woolf.

In February 1962 Orin Jennings was reportedly writing the script. The following month Harvey said he would make the movie after Running Man. Harvey went to visit Somerset Maugham in France to get the author's advice on how to play the role.

In July 1962 Ray Stark, head of Seven Arts, said he had turned down an offer from a leading female star to appear in the movie on the grounds she was too expensive; he said she would have led to them requiring a further $3 million to break even.

In November Seven Arts announced the director would be Henry Hathaway who had tried to make the film four years previously with Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift as the leads. Hathaway said "I firmly believe that she [Monroe] would still be alive today if she had played Of Human Bondage. It would have given her the roles she longed for and which I know she could have done."

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