Now, Voyager [1942 film]

by Irving Rapper (Director), Casey Robinson (Screenwriter)

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Description

A young woman escapes the smothering influence of her wealthy and very conservative mother through the help of a psychiatrist and an ocean cruise, where she finds love, which helps her to become her own person.

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Member Recommendations

lucyknows King Lear could be successfully paired with the film adaptation of Now Voyager by Irving Rapper
2wonderY This is the book the movie is based on. Excellent read.

Member Reviews

7 reviews
A woman with an overbearing mother has a nervous breakdown, then falls in love with a married man.

2/4 (Indifferent).

Unlikable characters, in a relationship we don't want to see happen, with no chemistry.
½
MOGU3 | Drama & Romance | .M4V | Protected | 1.38 Gigabits | 1486 Kilobits Per Second | 640 Frame Width | 480 Frame Height | 0.10 Frames/Second | Boston spinster Charlotte has had her life controlled entirely by her wealthy mother, Mrs. Henry Vale. Feeling despondent, she's convinced to spend time in a sanitarium. Soon she is transformed into a sophisticated, confident woman. On a cruise to South America, Charlotte meets and begins an affair with Jerry Durrance, a married architect. Six months later, she returns home and confronts her mother with her independence. One day, after a brief argument, her mother has a heart attack and dies. Charlotte inherits the Vale fortune but feels guilty of her mother's death. She returns to the show more sanitarium, where she befriends a depressed young adolescent, Tina. The young girl's depression was brought on by being rejected by her mother--Charlotte's former lover Jerry's wife. Charlotte takes Tina home to Boston with her.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil show less
This copy was taped from TV (TCM). It is a contemporary romance (1941). I watched it sporadically, and was not inclined to pursue it further.
From the DVD case: A tender love story, a taut psychological drama, an inspiring tale of physical and spritual transformation. Bette Davis-Best Actress Oscar Nomination; Max Steiner-Acadamey Award Music
"One of the cinema's great romances" Danny Peary, Guide for the Film Fanatic
Film délectable qui réunit la grande Betty David et le comédien Paul Heinreid.
Le réalisateur donne à voir la métamorphose d'une femme rendue casanière, névrosée et laide par la tyrannie d'une mère qui la tient en laisse, vers la nouvelle femme qu'elle deviendra grâce aux bons soins d'un psychiatre qui l'accueille dans son établissement de santé (et qui l'éloigne de fait de la source de son mal).
La chrysalide deviendra bien sûr papillon grâce à la découverte de l'amour (mais en est-il jamais autrement dans la vraie vie ?).
Ce qui frappe et charme dans ce film tourné en 1942, c'est la liberté avec laquelle le réalisateur fait évoluer son personnage. Peu soucieux des conventions de l'époque et des croyances qui show more persistent encore aujourd'hui sur les conditions et modèles du bonheur, Irving Rapper affirme que l'on peut s'affranchir et s'accomplir en dehors des codes traditionnels. Ainsi, Charlotte - femme devenue beau papillon - embrasse l'idée de continuer à nourrir son amour pour un homme marié dont elle ne pourra partager le quotidien, mais avec lequel elle partagera l'amour qu'ils portent l'un et l'autre à la fille de ce dernier (enfant également rejetée par sa mère... le sacro-saint amour maternel en prend décidément plein son grade).
La scène finale dans laquelle Charlotte et Jerry (l'homme qu'elle aime) contemplent le ciel étoilé porte pleinement cette idée que l'on peut faire sien tout ce que l'on aime, à commencer par les étoiles. Aucune limite ne s'impose, si ce n'est celles que l'on s'invente.
show less
Una apasionante historia de amor, un tenso melodrama psicológico, un inspirado cuento sobre la transformación física y espiritual.
Davis interpreta a Charlotte Vale, una solterona amargada y controlada por su dominante e insensible madre que es persuadida por su psiquiatra para que descubra el amor, la angustia y la eventual alegría.

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Published Reviews

Maybe the 1940s were the very last period in which this story would make sense. It was released during wartime, and though there is nothing in it about the war (again, unlike Casablanca) the war makes relevant its themes of self-sacrifice and transcending one’s own emotional unhappiness. At the same time, it is almost ecstatically driven by unhappiness: emotional rocket fuel. Davis’s show more performance is at once spiky and angular and yet also soft, sensual and vulnerable. The excellent Henreid is perfectly cast. This film is exquisitely crafted and passionately acted. show less
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Aug 4, 2021
added by Lemeritus
Repressed spinster Bette Davis awakens to the joys of life and Paul Henreid in Irving Rapper’s classic 1942 study in schmaltz. Not great filmmaking, but indispensable to students of 40s pop culture. This is the one in which Henreid lights two cigarettes at once, a show of dexterity that his subsequent career never equaled. The aggressive score is by Max Steiner; with Claude Rains, Gladys show more Cooper, Bonita Granville, and John Loder show less
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Oct 18, 1985
added by Lemeritus
"Now, Voyager," either because of the Hays office or its own spurious logic, endlessly complicates an essentially simple theme. For all its emotional hair-splitting, it fails to resolve its problems as truthfully as it pretends....It is in these endless renunciations that the story moves from a direct and common-sense dramatic treatment into a prudish fantasy. Chained to a personal show more unhappiness, the lover's refusal to consummate his love for Miss Davis itself becomes a suspicious symptom. His nobility is phony—in his self-enforced martyrdom he is no less neurotic than the woman he has helped to bring to life.... Although "Now, Voyager" starts out bravely, it ends exactly where it started—and after two lachrymose hours. show less
Oct 23, 1942
added by Lemeritus

Lists

Great Films Based on Books
319 works; 140 members

Author Information

Picture of author.
Director
26 Works 287 Members
Picture of author.
Screenwriter
16+ Works 513 Members

All Editions

Chase, Ilka (Actor)
Davis, Bette (Actor)
Loder, John (Actor)
Low, Warren (Editor)
Patrick, Lee (Actor)
Polito, Sol (Cinematographer)
Prouty, Olive Higgins (Original novel)
Steiner, Max (Composer)
Wallis, Hal B. (Producer)
Wickes, Mary (Actor)

Some Editions

Hadley, Sam (Cover artist)

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Classifications

DDC/MDS
791.4372Arts & recreationRecreation, sports, and performing artsMovies, TV, VideoMotion pictures, radio, television, podcastingMotion picturesFilms; screenplaysSingle films
LCC
PN1997Language and LiteratureLiterature (General)Literature (General)DramaMotion picturesPlays, scenarios, etc.

Statistics

Members
135
Popularity
241,345
Reviews
6
Rating
(3.97)
Languages
English, Italian, Portuguese
ISBNs
11
UPCs
5
ASINs
17