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Directed by Irving Rapper
USA 1942
Nervous spinster Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is stunted from growing up under the heel of her puritanical Boston Brahmin mother (Gladys Cooper), and remains convinced of her own unworthiness until a kindly psychiatrist (Claude Rains) gives her the confidence to venture out into the world on a South American cruise. On board, she finds her footing with the help of an unhappily married man (Paul Henreid). Their thwarted love affair may help Charlotte break free of her mother’s grip—but will she find fulfillment as well as independence? Made at the height of Davis’s reign as the queen of the woman’s picture and bolstered by an Oscar-winning Max Steiner score, Now, Voyager is a melodrama for the ages, both a rapturous Hollywood romance and a poignant saga of self-discovery. *** Olive Higgins Prouty's popular novel Now, Voyager was transformed into nearly two hours of high-grade soap opera by several masters of the trade: Warner Bros., Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, director Irving Rapper, and screenwriter Casey Robinson. Davis plays repressed Charlotte Vale, dying on the vine thanks to her domineering mother (Gladys Cooper). All-knowing psychiatrist Dr. Jaquith (Claude Rains) urges Charlotte to make several radical changes in her life, quoting Walt Whitman's "Now, voyager, sail forth to seek and find." Slowly, Charlotte emerges from her cocoon of tight hairdos and severe clothing to blossom into a gorgeous fashion plate. While on a long ocean voyage, she falls in love with Jerry Durrence (Henreid), who is trapped in a loveless marriage. After kicking over the last of her traces at home, Charlotte selflessly becomes a surrogate mother to Jerry's emotionally disturbed daughter (a curiously uncredited Janis Wilson), who is on the verge of becoming the hysterical wallflower that Charlotte once was. An interim romance with another man (John Loder) fails to drive Jerry from Charlotte's mind. The film ends ambiguously; Jerry is still married, without much chance of being divorced from his troublesome wife, but the newly self-confident Charlotte is willing to wait forever if need be. "Don't ask for the moon," murmurs Charlotte as Max Steiner's romantic music reaches a crescendo; "we have the stars." In addition to this famous line, Now, Voyager also features the legendary "two cigarettes" bit, in which Henreid places two symbolic cigarettes between his lips, lights them both, and hands one to Charlotte. The routine would be endlessly lampooned in subsequent films, once by Henreid himself in the satirical sword-and-sandal epic Siren of Baghdad (1953). Excerpt from B+N located HERE |
Posters
Theatrical Release: October 22nd, 1942
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Warner - Region 1,4 - NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A'/'B' - Blu-ray
Box Cover |
Released on Blu-ray by Criterion on December 9th, 2019: |
|
Distribution | Warner Home Video - Region 1,4 - NTSC | Criterion - Region 'A'/'B' - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:57:28 | 1:57:46.434 |
Video |
1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.80 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
1.37 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 49,226,988,607 bytesFeature: 31,838,029,824 bytesVideo Bitrate: 32.04 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate: |
|
|
Bitrate Blu-ray: |
|
|
Audio | English (Dolby Digital mono) |
LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bits |
Subtitles | English (CC), Spanish, French, Portuguese, None | English (SDH), None |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Warner Studios Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details:
• Max Steiner Scoring Session Music Cues
|
Release Information: Studio: Criterion
1.37 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 49,226,988,607 bytesFeature: 31,838,029,824 bytesVideo Bitrate: 32.04 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
• Episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1971 featuring actor Bette Davis
(53:38)
Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 19 |
Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
On their
Blu-ray,
Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English
language. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score by
the
iconic Max Steiner (Since
You Went Away
Now, Voyager, Sergeant
York,
The Criterion
Blu-ray has
a 54-minute long episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1971
featuring actor Bette Davis - she is a delight in her frankness. There
is an interview with actor Paul Henreid by Jim Brown from 1980 running a
short 4-minutes. I enjoyed the insights in the new selected-scene
(27-minutes worth) commentary on the film’s score by scholar Jeff Smith.
I am also a big fans of the new 1/2 hour interview with film critic
Farran Smith Nehme on the making of the film and a 10-minutes with
costume historian Larry McQueen. Criterion include two, 3/4 hour long,
radio adaptations from 1943 and 1946 and the package has some liner
notes with an essay by scholar Patricia White and a 1937 reflection on
acting by Davis.
It's hard to deny Now, Voyager the
'masterpiece' status labeling . It's a brilliant motion picture in every
way. We should be both thankful it was released on Blu-ray,
and that it was Criterion with the immense image quality upgrade and
substantial supplements.
A very strong recommendation!
|
Warner - Region 1,4 - NTSC
Criterion - Region 'A'/'B' - Blu-ray
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
1) Warner - Region 1,4 - NTSC TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A'/'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
1) Warner - Region 1,4 - NTSC TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A'/'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
1) Warner - Region 1,4 - NTSC TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A'/'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
Box Cover |
Released on Blu-ray by Criterion on December 9th, 2019: |
|
Distribution | Warner Home Video - Region 1,4 - NTSC | Criterion - Region 'A'/'B' - Blu-ray |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |