Now, Voyager (1942)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Irving Rapper

Writers:

Casey Robinson (screenplay)
Olive Higgins Prouty (from the novel by)

Release Date:

31 October 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Today Her Greatest! For a woman there's always an excuse . . .

Plot:

Boston spinster blossoms under therapy and finds impossible romance.

Plot Keywords:

Spinster | Cruise | Love Affair | Domineering Mother | Heart Attack

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 13

6:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Charlotte Vale
Paul Henreid	...	Jerry Durrance
Claude Rains	...	Dr. Jaquith
Gladys Cooper	...	Mrs. Henry Vale
Bonita Granville	...	June Vale
John Loder	...	Elliot Livingston
Ilka Chase	...	Lisa Vale
Lee Patrick	...	'Deb' McIntyre
Franklin Pangborn	...	Mr. Thompson
Katharine Alexander	...	Miss Trask (as Katherine Alexander)
James Rennie	...	Frank McIntyre
Mary Wickes	...	Dora Pickford
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tod Andrews	...	Dr. Dan Regan (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
David Clyde	...	William (uncredited)
Frank Dae	...	Passenger (uncredited)
Yola d'Avril	...	Celestine (uncredited)
Donald Douglas	...	George Weston (uncredited)
Charles Drake	...	Leslie Trotter (uncredited)
Claire Du Brey	...	Hilda (uncredited)
Elspeth Dudgeon	...	Aunt Hester (uncredited)
Bill Edwards	...	Passenger (uncredited)
Mary Field	...	Passenger (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Concert Audience Member (uncredited)
Reed Hadley	...	Henry Montague (uncredited)
Sheila Hayward	...	Katie (uncredited)
Bill Kennedy	...	Hamilton Hunneker (uncredited)
George Lessey	...	Uncle Herbert (uncredited)
Lester Matthews	...	Captain (uncredited)
Corbet Morris	...	Hilary (uncredited)
Tempe Pigott	...	Mrs. Smith (uncredited)
Hilda Plowright	...	Justine (uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	Giuseppe (uncredited)
Constance Purdy	...	Rosa (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	M. Henri (uncredited)
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Woman (uncredited)
Janis Wilson	...	Tina Durrance (uncredited)
Isabel Withers	...	Passenger (uncredited)
Ian Wolfe	...	Lloyd (uncredited)
Charlotte Wynters	...	Grace Weston (uncredited)

Directed by
Irving Rapper

Writing credits
Casey Robinson		(screenplay)
Olive Higgins Prouty		(from the novel by)

Produced by
Hal B. Wallis	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner		(music by)

Cinematography by
Sol Polito		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Warren Low

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas		(as Robert Haas)

Set Decoration by
Fred M. MacLean

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
Martha Acker	....	hair (uncredited)
Edwin Allen	....	make-up (uncredited)

Production Management
Al Alleborn	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Emmett Emerson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Sherry Shourds	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Scotty Moore	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert B. Lee	....	sound

Special Effects by
Willard Van Enger	....	special effects

Stunts
Audrey Scott	....	stunt double: Bette Davis (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Joe Cramer	....	best boy (uncredited)
Frank Evans	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Al Green	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Harold Noyes	....	grip (uncredited)
Charles O'Bannon	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Bert Six	....	stills (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mary Dery	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Rydo Loshak	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Marguerite Royce	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestral arrangements

Other crew
Edward A. Blatt	....	dialogue director (as Edward Blatt)
Don Siegel	....	montages
George Becker	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Meta Carpenter	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Phyllis Clark	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Gilberto Souto	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents) (as Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.) (A Warner Bros. First National Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (new 35mm print)
• Warner Bros. (1947) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

La extraña pasajera (Spain) [es]
Massa el Ha-Ahava (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Perdutamente tua (Italy) [it]
Reise aus der Vergangenheit (Germany) [de]
To xespasma mias psyhis (Greece) [el]
Under nya stjärnor (Sweden) [sv]
Under nye stjerner (Denmark) [da]
Une femme cherche son destin (France) [fr]
Uusien tähtien alla (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:PG | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #8341) | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

6621 Whitley Terrace, Whitley Heights, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The comic scenes in which Giuseppe ('Frank Pugli'), the cab driver, drives Charlotte (Bette Davis) and Jerry (Paul Henreid) up Sugar Loaf in Rio are effective because Giuseppe does not speak English and neither Charlotte nor Jerry speak Portuguese. Yet, the comedy is even more intensified because Giuseppe does not speak Portuguese either. Rather he jabbers on in a sort of 'lingua franca' mixture of Pugli's native Scilian, Spanish, and Portuguese. All of it spoken with an Italian accent.

Goofs:

Continuity: After sending the wire to his wife, Jerry's position alternates between having only his right arm on the table and leaning forward on table with both arms.

Quotes:

Mrs. Henry Windle Vale: No member of the Vale family has ever had a nervous breakdown.
Dr. Jasquith: Well there's one having one now.

Movie Connections:

Featured in You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No.6 in B Minor (Pathétique) Op. 74

Ugly duckling turns into a swan

At the height of WWII, Hollywood produced a lot of excellent melodramas. These were the vehicles the studios created for its stars of that era. It was either a Joan Crawford picture, or a Barbara Stanwyck, or a Bette Davis one, since their presence, bigger than life, was the only reason to bring these stories to the big screen.

Take this one, for instance, under the direction of Irving Rapper. It had all the right elements, yet it was chaste enough to pass the censor. Undoubtedly, this movie owes a lot to the fantastic score by the talented Max Steiner who was a genius. Mr. Steiner's music plays the haunting melodies with such flair, we feel we are listening to a great symphonic work.

The story, by today's standards wouldn't raise an eyebrow. At the time it came out, it was a different thing. After all, Jerry was a married man with a daughter and a situation that had no easy solution then. That makes Charlotte Vale suffer after she found her soul mate aboard the ship that served to free herself from a despotic mother.

Bette Davis plays Charlotte to perfection. Her scenes with Paul Hendried lighting the two cigarettes is something to cherish by film fans. The chemistry that Bette Davis shared with her leading men was no small accomplishment. She was an actress that knew how to pull the heart strings of the general public. She had such a charisma and power to lose herself in all those strong women she played through the years. The transformation of the plain Charlotte to the smart woman, who embarks on a tour to begin a new life, is something out of a fairy tale, but Ms. Davis pulls it with great panache.

The rest of the cast was excellent. Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville, Ilka Chase! They only come once in a lifetime. No one in present day Hollywood comes near to that. It was perfection.