Now, Voyager (1942)

Now, Voyager
Directed by Irving Rapper
Written by Casey Robinson from the novel by Olive Higgins Prouty
1942/USA
Warner Bros
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#160 of 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die

[box] Dr. Jasquith: I thought you said you came here to have a nervous breakdown.

Charlotte: About that, I’ve decided not to have one.[/box]

If Bette Davis had only ended up with Claude Rains, I might have been able to get behind this picture.  Then again, maybe not …

Charlotte Vale (Davis) was a “late” and unwanted child.  She is totally dominated by her demanding mother (Gladys Cooper) who is driving the sensitive old maid straight into a nervous breakdown.  Charlotte’s kind sister-in-law brings in Dr. Jasquith (Rains) to the rescue.  In an uncharacteristic act of kindness, mother allows Charlotte to go with him to a sanitarium.

Jasquith is a miracle worker and the sister-in-law sends Charlotte off to stretch her wings on a South American cruise.  She gradually blossoms and falls in love with the unhappily married Jerry (Paul Heinreid).  Jerry cannot leave his invalid wife or his unhappy, unwanted younger daughter and they agree to part forever.  Jerry continues to torment Charlotte with camillia corsages however.

Jerry’s love (from afar) gives Charlotte the courage to stand up to her mother and to develop a social life of her own.  His unexpected reappearance causes her to break her engagement to a scion of Boston society greatly angering her mother.  But the glory of an impossible love will see dear Charlotte through.

I am immune to the charms of Paul Heinreid.  Added to that are strong elements of dubious Freudian psychology and womanly self-sacrifice that drive me crazy.  While I realize that it was demanded by the Hayes Code, the ending is the nail in the coffin for me. All the acting is rather good (my favorite by far is Rains) and the production values are top-notch. Steiner’s repetitively saccharine love theme does nothing for me.  Sorry to be a downer about this much-loved melodrama.

Now, Voyager won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Max Steiner).  Bette Davis and Gladys Cooper were nominated for their performances in the film.

Trailer – cinematography by Sol Polito