Of Human Bondage is a story of one-way infatuation and the destruction a wounded heart can wreak on the soul. It stars Leslie Howard as a young man who leaves art for medicine and falls for a trashy waitress (Bette Davis). He's initially blind to her lack of character, but she maintains her hold on him even after he's wisened up. It's an often heartrending story, but the film's grace and buoyance keep it from being too depressing. Howard is beautifully understated in the lead role, while Bette Davis turns in another of her masterful (and unique) performances, perfectly conveying her character's inability to behave in any other way but selfishly. Cruel as she is sometimes, she's as much a tragic figure as Howard.