MovieChat Forums > Of Human Bondage (1946) Discussion > I just don't get it

I just don't get it

posted 16 years ago by RRozsa
9 replies | jump to latest

Maybe it's because I never read the book or saw the Bette Davis movie, of which this was a remake, but -- I just don't see any conceivable reason why Philip would be drawn to Mildred! She is rude, crass, and obnoxious, and she talks like a cockney -- nothing endearing or particularly attractive about her, and seems to be below-average intelligence. She sort of reminds me of the spiteful servant played by Angela Lansbury in "Gaslight".

Does he just have a compulsive need to take care of trashy losers??

[–] marbleann 16 years ago

Reading the book would help, The movie is only a snippet of the book. Mildred only comes in toward the middle. Philip had a bad self esteem problem because of his club foot, it plays a major role in the book. Because of it he actually treats a lot of people with contempt including the people who raised him. A women commits suicide over him. If you read the book he does not come off as such a sympathetic character. I believe because of his club foot he thinks that Midlred is what he deserves in life and see her as wounded as him and takes pity on her. Mildred is him. Mildred in the book is not considered pretty either. I believe this movie Parker is way to pretty for the role. Davis does it justice. But also in the the book there is a sexual obsession going on too. You know she is sleeps with him and he likes it. He likes that trashy part of her and that is what attracts him in the first place when he spots her as a waitress. Something we do not see in any of the versions of the movie and if we did no one would be confused about his actions. lol

[–] RRozsa 16 years ago

Thanks, that helps a lot!

[–] marbleann 16 years ago

YW.

[–] xylonian-1 15 years ago

Thanks from me as well. In commenting on the movie TCM's Robert Osborne did seem to comment that reading the book might be helpful, but didn't include a lot of info unlike above reply.

Maybe I will have to break down and finally read it. I found this movie to be well acted, but extremely boring and tedious, but the odd thing is, I usually like movies like that :) Not in this case however, but not to ever critisize anyone who likes it. One of the problems perhaps is the film may have been a bit "too close to home"....

....as in, being a very peaceful person dates usually wanted arguments and got none, and have noticed any number of people with abrasive personalities like Mildred, were found to be interesting, unforgetable, etc, even thought they had little else than that to offer to a relationship.

The line (to the effect) "If she had been civil or pleasent I would have forgotten her in a moment" captures this idea better than my trying to explain above. Always best to say "no", to someone used to hearing 'yes' and etc.

"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five."

[–] marbleann 15 years ago

YW Also what helps is knowing about the writer a little. I am a big fan of his. Maugham was very critical of people of the upper British classes and people who aspired to be in the upper classes, like the Philip Carey character. He was not rich but in the book he aspires to be in the upper classes. Also another thing I forgot to mention. In the book he spends quit a while in Germany and France trying to be a painter. That to me was the most interesting part of the book. He meets a few character there. Philip's childhood and years in Germany mirror the writers life to some extent. That explains why in the movies Philip is usually a little older then one would imagine him to be. Even Leslie Howard looked a little long in the tooth for the part. He also was not a great fan of British colonialism. And that part comes out a little in Philip's travels in Germany and France. Novels like th Razors Edge shows his contempt of the upper classes and their travels. The main character in the razors Edge goal in life is to break away from this group of people. A lot of his short stories such as the Letter and Rain show his contempt of colonialism and the upper classes. BTW read the The letter and Rain before looking at the movie also. So to me if a person even read a few of his novels it is a big help even if they never read of Human Bondage because the same threads run through them.

I agree I too have met a lot of people who seem to be attracted to Mildred types. They seem to seek them out. And you wonder for a few seconds what is it about them, but only they know. A lot of people like things or people who are clearly not good for them for all sorts of reasons. But Philip had a complex because of that club foot and that underlined his personality all through the book, even after he got it fixed.

[–] xylonian-1 15 years ago

Well I did happen to get a volume entitled 65 Short Stories of W. Sumerset Maugham at a library sale :) a while back but have only read a few so far :( The ones I have read were fascinating*, and now that you mention it, they all point towards what what you are saying. With regard to Leslie Howard, this is the first version I have seen, (except for the famous Bette Davis 'wipe my mouth' scene, but I never knew what movie it came from until now). I have the Kim Novak version on tape somewhere....Unsure what I would do without TCM.

*Have not yet read The Letter or Rain

Not to be sappy (for lack of a better term) but it is posters like yourself that make IMDB the interesting place it is....(or can be). Thanks again!!!!

"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five."

[–] kenny-164 11 years ago

Posting a post on a thread with the most recent one being nearly five years ago is an exercise in something, although I am not sure what, but in any event...

I watched this with my wife who was somewhat too repeatedly expressing frustration with Philip's supposed motivation in pursuing Mildred. It frankly did not seem all that hard to understand to me, even if it has no equivalent in my relation to my wife!

But seriously, he clearly had self-esteem issues evident from the first scene. Which was deficient in a different way - hard to imagine people who just met each other being so open about themselves and even, in the case of Alexis Smith's character, being somewhat overt in interest in Henreid's. But he does lay the basis for understanding him to have issues, to say the least.

When he later meets Mildred, and then thinks about her, it is obvious he knows full well she is a handful, but seems to be prepared to enjoy virtually as a masochist the challenge of her. Interesting. Does someone who seems a challenge also, and how often, appeal to one's subconscious masochistic tendencies? Wonder what Freud would say.

I also thought there was a sense in which the debasement he felt paralleled the doubts he had about pursuing the profession of a doctor. His father was a doctor. Did he not want to be one, even if he seemed to have no talents for anything else?

Anyway, there is much there for rich analysis, but while Parker's acting was exceptional, the character of Mildred of course was grating in the extreme.

Well, count me as someone who enjoyed the film, even if I am not about to reorder my top films list after having seen it.

[–] DavidLanceRoten 11 years ago

I enjoyed it more than I though I would, and certainly makes me want to check out the Bette Davis version.
The Mildred Rogers character, easily one of the most grating, obnoxious characters in any movie I've recently seen, if not ever. Zero redeeming qualities.

..."Never do today what you can always do tomorrow. Gives you something to look forward to...

[–] 11 years ago

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