Now, Voyager

Rating:
Summary: On a Par with "Casablanca" - Exquisite Movie Magic!
Review: Because Bette Davis was slotted into macabre Grand Guignol roles in later life where she often had to parody her own mannerisms, many people - including fans - forget how extraordinary an actress she actually was and how subtle, controlled and understated she could be; "Now Voyager" bears testimony to her craft. In "Now Voyager," she has one of her finest roles as Charlotte Vale, a repressed spinster and one of the prominent Boston "Vales" living under the shadow of a domineering mother (Gladys Cooper), who is sent to a sanitarium to ward off an impending nervous breakdown and put under the care of a sympathetic (and I might add -- dashing) psychiatrist, Dr. Jacquith (Claude Rains). Realizing the source of Charlotte's "problems," Dr. Jacquith recommends that she be sent on a voyage, coining a phrase from Walt Whitman, "Now voyager, sail forth to seek and find." While onboard, she meets unhappily married, exquisitely gentlemanly Jerry Durrance (Paul Henreid) and falls in love; it's a meeting of soul mates. The voyage transforms Charlotte's life.

To call "Now Voyager" a "soaper" or "women's picture" is to vastly underrate it; it is a first-class, exquisite and nearly perfect film experience on a caliber with "Casablanca." One of the things that links both films is the sense of nobility, something that is sadly lacking in today's society. Nearly everything is flawless from the witty, intelligent dialogue adapted by Casey Robinson from the novel by Olive Higgins Prouty (offering great repartee and delivered with the sharpness that only Davis could provide); the magnificent swelling score from genius Max Steiner; the full-bodied and three-dimensional characterizations -- even the foreboding matriarch is multi-layered; superb performances from everyone in the cast -- Davis and Henreid are dazzling, but the entire cast is perfect and beautifully balanced, including a delightful Gladys Cooper (later known as the housekeeper in the "Father Dowling Mysteries" series) as a nurse; and one of the screen's all-time greatest moments: Davis' metamorphosis from a trembling, dowdy neurotic with orthopedic shoes and hilariously heavy eyebrows to a striking cosmopolitan with picture hats and to-die-for clothes (including gowns by O. Kelly). In fact, my two favorite moments in the picture are these: the first appearance of Davis by way of orthopedic shoes on the stairs of her Boston home; then Davis' stylish pumps on the gangway of the ship. The two cigarettes, the line "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars" might have been spoofed often, but they are still as resonant and beautiful as ever today.

A sublime film. When they say they don't make films like they used to, they're talking about films like this one! Pure movie heaven!

Rating:
Summary: My summary: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains!
Review: Bette Davis and Paul Henreid are stunning! Davis playing a low-keyed woman for a change is still electric in her performance. Heinreid is the ultra romantic "Knight in Shining Armor" women crave! This film is and always will be a classic. As with Dark Victory, Bette makes you cry for her pain. When Paul Henreid lights those two cigarettes and hands her one is one of the most romantic moments in movie history. Oh to have "Stars" like that today! I would swoon all over again!

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful, Romantic, Tear Jerker, A Must See...
Review: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains what a great cast. This is a movie that keeps your heart aching. Passion, Love, Kindness, Lonliness. A definite CLASSIC. Bette Davis is one of the greatest actors of all times, and in this movie with her eyes and many faces you totally appreciate her. In this movie the actress who played her mother did a awesome job. Paul Henreid as always is just terrific. This is a must see, and a must own, but as you can tell you will have a diffucult time finding this VHS film. Darn! 5 stars....

Rating:
Summary: Now Voyager - Bette at Her Best
Review: Bette made some terrific films.... this is my personal favorite along with "Mr. Skeffington"... the ONLY criticism is the biographies of the cast ONLY work with Ms. Davis.. the others on the menu do not function.... still.. the plus side is the stunning transfer of the film to DVD. It is fresh and few flaws are visible on this version. I saw the new version of "Sunset Blvd." just after seeing this film, and though "Voyager" is 8 years older, it looks far cleaner and crisper than "Sunset" does. Bravo to the restoration crew here! The film itself, is of course, a masterpiece and well worth the purchase price. A true gem!

Rating:
Summary: Now Voyager - Bette at Her Best
Review: Bette made some terrific films.... this is my personal favorite along with "Mr. Skeffington"... the ONLY criticism is the biographies of the cast ONLY work with Ms. Davis.. the others on the menu do not function.... still.. the plus side is the stunning transfer of the film to DVD. It is fresh and few flaws are visible on this version. I saw the new version of "Sunset Blvd." just after seeing this film, and though "Voyager" is 8 years older, it looks far cleaner and crisper than "Sunset" does. Bravo to the restoration crew here! The film itself, is of course, a masterpiece and well worth the purchase price. A true gem!

Rating:
Summary: Classic in the true meaning of the word
Review: Betty Davis, here a victim of her mother's cruel apprehensions, gives an unforgettable performance as a spinster who finds her world changing, for the better, after a visit to a sanatorium. Not only does she find herself and a new shaperlier, sexier body but....love! The fly in the ointment is that the object of her affection (Henreid) is irreparably married. It doesn't all end there... as you'll see..The scene where Henreid lights two cigarretes has to be one, despite modern political correctness, which will forever appeal to lovers everywhere. This is a movie to watch again and again, and again. Tissues are optional...

Rating:
Summary: Overwrought and Only Somewhat Convincing Melodrama
Review: Davis plays nice with middling results. The acting is fine, to be sure, but I miss the feistyness of her better movies. A hapless neurotic woman breaks free of her tyrannical and hateful mother. She seeks therapy and begins to live her own life. She learns that life can't be perfect but it can always be better & happiness s not impossible. Could be seen as encouragement to wallflowers.

Rating:
Summary: Now Voyager: A Soap Well-Done
Review: Filmmakers know that audiences respond to stories that deal with variations of the Cinderella theme, that beneath the surface of the ugly duckling lies the lovely goose. Rarely has any movie so graphically charted the evolution of such a metamorphosis better than NOW VOYAGER. This is really Bette Davis' movie. She is the dramatic center around which swirls an able cast led by Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, and Gladys Cooper. The moment that Charlotte Vale (Davis) appears on screen as a hopelessly dressed dowdy of a crushed matron, the furtive look in an eye that clearly had the brashness knocked out long ago tells you all you need to know about her dress, her cracking voice, and her punching bag status. Her mother, played with the arrogant sneer of a harridan black widow by Gladys Cooper, runs her family as much as with her threats to withhold money as with the coldness of her cutting remarks. Charlotte's sister and niece are not deliberately cruel, but they fail to see the daily humbling of a woman who cries for help with no one to hear. Eventually though, someone does hear. Claude Rains is the psychiatrist whom Charlotte's sister calls on with the proviso that the mother not reveal his identity. He meets with Charlotte and can see within moments her distress. The mother breaks her word by revealing to Charlotte the identity of the doctor who had first been introduced merely as a friend. One of the most chilling scenes in any film about the gap between a normal maternal love for a child and the perversion that exists within the mother occurs when the matriarch hears the doctor say that Charlotte is nearing a mental collapse. She blurts out that no one in the VALE family has ever had the temerity to have one. His reply: 'You are seeing one now.' Charlotte's regeneration begins when she stays at a sanitarium run by the doctor who shows her that she does have a beauty that needs only the right environment to thrive. And thrive Charlotte does, enough to go on a ship voyage to meet Jerry, an understanding married man with whom she ever so slowly falls in love. On her return home, her sister and niece are pleasantly surprised to see the radiant confident creature that has blossomed. The mother is not pleased and cares only to rip away Charlotte's new-found confidence and return her to her former state of despondency. Charlotte fights back and the scenes in which she asserts her independence resonate with anyone who has a similar parent. But part of her growth of self is not simply for herself. Charlotte meets Jerry's daughter who is now suffering the same trauma that she herself so recently went through. As Charlotte and Jerry's daughter interact, you can see that in the eyes of this young girl, Charlotte has grown enough to dole out the love that now exists in her own heart to another who needs that love more than anything else. Paul Henreid plays Jerry as a man who loves Charlotte enough to know that their relationship must be a secret. He rages against a society that frowns on what they have, and if they can't have the moon, they must learn to be satisfied with the stars.
NOW VOYAGER is pure soap, but its timeless message that love needs to be nurtured both for one's own sake as well as for those who matter is such a clear resonating call that the audience does not care, since learning to care about those on film helps them to care about those in real life too.

Rating:
Summary: Classy all the Way
Review: From the first time I saw it until the last time I saw it a few days ago, "Now,Voyager" just appeals to me. Maybe it's the shell of a woman trying to break free and become her own person, maybe it's the beautifully tasteful yet forbidden romance that comes before you onscreen, or maybe it's the fact that you come away feeling upbeat even though you know the guy may not necessarily get the girl in the end, yet they share a common goal: the well being of "their" daughter Christina. You just can't help but love it, and whoever says it's campy is dead wrong. This is only Classy tasteful and beautiful film. One of Bette's better films in my opinion, and one I can watch again and again.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT FILM - GREAT DVD TRANSFER
Review: Great film - great DVD transfer.

The single disappointment is the CAST & CREW segment of the Bonus Material. Although it lists the other actors and crew, underneath Ms Davis' name, one is unable to pull up their biographies.