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Now, Voyager, 1942
Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is a miserable, neurotic woman living with her overbearing mother (Gladys Cooper) and generally mocked or ignored by the rest of the family. Dr Jaquith (Claude Rains) insists that she come to his mental health facility for her own good, and free from her oppressive home life she blossoms. Still a bit frail but much improved, she goes on a cruise where she strikes up a romance with a married man named Jerry (Paul Henreid). But when their time on the cruise ends, how will they ever be happy?
This was an interesting drama, if also one a bit constrained by some outdated social norms in terms of its characters.
The first two-thirds are solid, if a little predictable. Davis is good as both the at-her-wits-end Charlotte and her more self-assured evolution. As her mother, Cooper is both horrible and slightly sympathetic. While her methods of controlling Charlotte are demeaning and cruel, we can understand that she is afraid of being left alone and that she would rather scheme and throw insults than admit she is lonely. Henreid is a quiet, solid partner as Jerry. The film is a bit heavy-handed in justifying his adultery (basically really hammering home the fact that his wife---a person we never actually meet--is horrible), but it helps that he is shown to be a generally kind person.
But the third act of this movie is so weird, and in some ways kind of disappointing. This is sort of spoilers, I guess, but none of this is really a plot twist or anything. Basically, Charlotte finds out that Jerry's young daughter, Tina (Janis Wilson), has been sent to the same mental health facility where she recovered. She goes to the clinic and befriends Tina under the pretense that she just happens to be visiting the clinic. It's just . . . what!?!?!?!
Now, there were about 5 minutes where I was really excited about where I thought the film was going. I thought that Charlotte's return to the clinic and a little speech she gave meant that she was dedicating her life to helping other young women with similar problems and I was like Whoa! This is super progressive and cool!
NOPE.
Actually, Charlotte's idea is that she
So kind of bonkers and dated, but the lead performance from Davis is worth checking out.
Now, Voyager, 1942
Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is a miserable, neurotic woman living with her overbearing mother (Gladys Cooper) and generally mocked or ignored by the rest of the family. Dr Jaquith (Claude Rains) insists that she come to his mental health facility for her own good, and free from her oppressive home life she blossoms. Still a bit frail but much improved, she goes on a cruise where she strikes up a romance with a married man named Jerry (Paul Henreid). But when their time on the cruise ends, how will they ever be happy?
This was an interesting drama, if also one a bit constrained by some outdated social norms in terms of its characters.
The first two-thirds are solid, if a little predictable. Davis is good as both the at-her-wits-end Charlotte and her more self-assured evolution. As her mother, Cooper is both horrible and slightly sympathetic. While her methods of controlling Charlotte are demeaning and cruel, we can understand that she is afraid of being left alone and that she would rather scheme and throw insults than admit she is lonely. Henreid is a quiet, solid partner as Jerry. The film is a bit heavy-handed in justifying his adultery (basically really hammering home the fact that his wife---a person we never actually meet--is horrible), but it helps that he is shown to be a generally kind person.
But the third act of this movie is so weird, and in some ways kind of disappointing. This is sort of spoilers, I guess, but none of this is really a plot twist or anything. Basically, Charlotte finds out that Jerry's young daughter, Tina (Janis Wilson), has been sent to the same mental health facility where she recovered. She goes to the clinic and befriends Tina under the pretense that she just happens to be visiting the clinic. It's just . . . what!?!?!?!
Now, there were about 5 minutes where I was really excited about where I thought the film was going. I thought that Charlotte's return to the clinic and a little speech she gave meant that she was dedicating her life to helping other young women with similar problems and I was like Whoa! This is super progressive and cool!
NOPE.
Actually, Charlotte's idea is that she
WARNING: spoilers below
will "raise" Jerry's daughter at the clinic and it will be like they are long-distance married and raising a child together LOL WHAT? It is meant to be romantic, but I just found it kind of off-putting. This woman has spent years being repressed, and then as soon as she gets a hint of self-confidence she puts all her eggs in one basket--and that basket is married with a child. She wants to live out her life seeing the man she loves a handful of times a year, forging a relationship with a vulnerable child while hiding her real motivations from her. As the sappy string music swelled behind the last few moments of the film, I was more appalled than awed.
So kind of bonkers and dated, but the lead performance from Davis is worth checking out.