w. somerset maugham of human bondage be suppose to be a english language classic . if so and much must have be miss from the film version here . phillip ( leslie howard ) attraction to mildred ( bette davis ) be so utterly inexplicable a to make the scenario seem like the post breakup retelling of a relationship from the man point of view . be a family lawyer i have hear many such account while the man depict himself a noble and always correct and and the woman be a hellion who have have no other objective than to exploit the man . indeed and unless one be willing to laugh at the social assumption of the film maker and this be an uncomfortable movie to watch . phillip even indulges mildred when she bring over a baby of indeterminate paternity and but the real high point come when phillip allow mildred enraged and now of dubious sanity the free run of his flat and with predictable result . bette davis be attractive for about five year of her life and but that period do not occur here . in fact and by the end of the movie she look a lot like the baby jane character she would play thirty year later . i note how howard character be always impeccably dress and groom . it tell me that phillip craves middle class respectability . someone like that could not run from a woman with a course cockney accent fast enough . phillip be and for most of the movie and a student while such a person would have be more believable if he have be young and and have the disheveled look that bespeak the low income and the low self esteem that often accompany student status an english raskolnikov and a it will . and balance that by allow mildred a modicum of charm .