Rent Now, Voyager (1942)

A precious antic film - Now, Voyager review by CSF

Maybe an old film and an old story but even today, we still have parents who crush their children. The subject of this old film still exist. It should be watched by children too. It is the story of a woman who has to build her life and her freedom despite her mother keeping her in a cage and making her believe that it is for her own good. The film is not the expected cliché. The so-called psychiatric residence is not a nasty one, the doctor is not the selfish money maker. It shows how compassion can transform someone's hell into a decent, and even a happy life.

Bette Davis is the usual outstanding actress. The actors are OK.

Medical melodrama. - Now, Voyager review by Steve

This is Bette Davis' signature role. She is Charlotte Vale, an inhibited, lonely spinster who escapes from the persecution of her mother and blossoms into a confident, independent woman. It's pure escapism, a wish fulfilment for the homefront in WWII. Charlotte is freed from domestic duty and escapes to a liaison onboard a ship to Rio with an attentive but troubled architect (Paul Henreid as Jerry).

This is a medical melodrama which draws on psychiatry. Bette's initial neurosis is swiftly treated, mostly with wisdom, by Claude Raines' fatherly doctor. When she recovers, Miss Vale is transformed into a stylish and wealthy Bostonian. Curiously, the film doesn't give us completion; Charlotte's love for Jerry isn't consummated because he cannot be free of his diabolical wife.

But, they mustn't ask for the moon, when they have the stars. Charlotte takes care of Jerry's daughter who is mentally tortured by her mother, just as Charlotte was by hers. And so the film becomes about sacrifice, a common theme in the war years. OK, this is a soap and some of the situations are unrealistic, but Davis does create an impression of a whole person, and her journey to (near) fulfilment is a real crowdpleaser.

Henreid is too lightweight to stand up to the vortex of the Bette performance. The best of the support cast is Gladys Cooper as Charlotte's domineering mother.  Now, Voyager is also remembered for Max Steiner's legendary love theme. And for Henreid's trick of lighting two cigarettes simultaneously. It's one of the great Warner Bothers melodramas and the ultimate Bette Davis vehicle.

“Banana trees!” - Now, Voyager review by LJ

While some of the actions in this drama are dubious by today’s standards, it is a far more positive story than I anticipated so pleasant in its way.